Jan Toorop was born in 1858 in Purworejo, on the island of Java, then in the Dutch East Indies. Arriving young in the Netherlands, he studied in Amsterdam then moved to Brussels, where he joined the avant-garde circle Les Vingt. This European contact nourished a career based on experimentation rather than adherence to a single style. Toorop moved from realism to neo-impressionism, from symbolism to Art Nouveau, then developed a religious work after his conversion to Catholicism. Toorop moved from realism to neo-impressionism, from symbolism to Art Nouveau, then developed a religious work after his conversion to Catholicism. Toorop moved from realism to neo-impressionism, from symbolism to Art Nouveau, then developed a religious work after his conversion to Catholicism. Toorop moved from realism to neo-impressionism, from symbolism to Art Nouveau, then developed a religious work after his conversion to Catholicism. His Javanese culture, wayang forms and memories of tropical vegetation remained a deep source of linear rhythms and hieratic figures. After the strike testifies to his social commitment: tired silhouettes, tense space and restrained palette give serious dignity to the world of work. Trio Fleuri belongs to his decorative and symbolic research, where the figures blend into a network of lines, colors and flowers. The Portrait of Marie Jeanette de Lange, produced in 1900, uses a clear pointillist technique to represent a clothing reform activist; Toorop considered this portrait one of his masterpieces. Old Men by the Sea finally combines monumentality, marine horizon and meditation on age. Installed in Katwijk in 1887, Toorop finally combines monumentality, marine horizon and meditation on age. Installed in Katwijk in 1887, Toorop finally combines monumentality, marine horizon and meditation on age. Installed in Katwijk in 1887, Toorop finally combines monumentality, marine horizon and meditation on age. Installed in Katwijk in 1887, Toorop finally combines monumentality, marine horizon and meditation on age. Installed in Katwijk in 1887, Toorop finally combines monumentality, marine horizon and meditation on age. Installed in Katwijk in 1887, Toorop finally combines monumentality collectors and artists, including Piet Mondrian, and helped make the Zeeland coast a hotbed of modernity. He also innovated in posters, binding and graphics. Died in The Hague in 1928, he left a corpus where painting, drawing and design recount the transformations of European art around 1900. The "Jan Toorop" selection notably compares Trio Fleuri and Après la strike. His reading favors light.
Toorop does not cross styles as successive modes: he transforms them into a personal language made of line, light, Javanese memory and attention to the modern world.