Indonesian Fine Art
When Willem Hofker (The Hague 1902-Amsterdam 1981) received his first prominent portrait commission in 1923, he was just 21 years old. Just out of the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, he stood, laden with canvases and a painter’s box, at the door of the Amsterdam banker Karel van Lennep. Van Lennep was founder of the Voluntary Civil Guard in 1918; Hofker had offered to paint his portrait to mark the Guards’ fifth anniversary. In part due to this commission, Hofker’s reputation as a portraitist grew considerably, and consequently the demand for his works increased. This was true not only within the Van Lennep family, but also among their extended family and subsequent generations. Spanning six decades, more than forty of these related portraits can be found in his portfolio of completed works. These portraits can be compared side by side, revealing a distinct taste and style, not only in that of the clients but also in Hofker himself. Hofker developed his preference for the romantic classical and figurative style early on at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, where he studied under, among others, Antoon Derkinderen, Johannes Jurres, and August Allebé. But he was certainly also shaped by the influence of the Dutch Impressionists of that era, such as Veth, Israëls, Breitner, and Witsen - distinguished artists whom Hofker had all personally known in his younger years. During his lifetime, Hofker painted a wide variety of portraits. Most notably are the official portraits of Queen Wilhelmina (1937) and her daughter Queen Juliana (1949), as well as portraits of prominent Dutch citizens, including professors, conductors, and members of the nobility, who had their fine family crests incorporated into their paintings. Equally important are the many portraits of children he painted: boys and girls whom Hofker immortalised at the request of their parents or grandparents, often accompanied by toys or objects dear to the child. This was often followed by portraits of their parents, as is the case here with this painting of Mrs. Alida Maria Hendrika (Lidi) Bonnet-Tierie (Amsterdam 1897- 1983), married in 1920 to Carel C.W. Bonnet (1896-1976). As a result, she was the sister-in-law of the painter Rudolf Bonnet (1895-1978), with whom Willem Hofker had become friends
in 1938. Alida was the daughter of the famous Dutch organist, conductor, and composer Antoon Tierie (1870-1938). She was musically gifted herself and, as it happened, gave piano lessons to the young Maria Rueter before she married Willem Hofker. This large-scale oil painting on canvas was created in July 1954 and shows Hofker’s masterful technique, style, and personality, which are fully on display here. The rendering of the fabric - sheer organza and especially its lustrous silk - is masterfully captured. Hofker had already explored this artistic expression a year earlier in a study of the green silk gown worn by his wife Maria. Both portraits are painted full-length. Such depictions are quite exceptional within Hofker’s European oeuvre. It is also the most exclusive and stately way to portray a subject. So far, we have only found seven ladies and two gentlemen in his oeuvre who were painted in this grand manner. One of these is this portrait, featuring Alida Bonnet-Tierie. These full-length paintings are more than just portraits that draw the viewer’s attention to the face. As we can see here in the painting on offer, the graceful lady is dressed in a lavish evening gown and presents herself as if ready to leave for a concert or the theatre. Her gown, in shades of light blue and cream, is richly draped to the floor. She is seated at a table on which lies an open book that appears to have been set down just moments ago. Next to it is a white vase in which flowers are arranged in all the colour nuances of the composition, contributing to the serene atmosphere. This includes the olive- green velvet of the chair on which the lady sits. Even the pink accents, which we see on her left hip, are echoed in the flowers. An antique kettle on the floor to the left not only completes the domestic setting and the narrative, but also the careful and thoughtful balance within the composition itself. Overall, this is a very attractive and masterfully crafted painting that radiates inspiration and displays all aspects of the style to which Willem Hofker always remained faithful. @Seline Hofker, April 2026. Literature: -B. Carpenter and M. Hofker-Rueter. ‘Willem Hofker, Schilder van / Painter of Bali’, Picture Publishers, 1993, mentioned on p. 205, no. 621*, as: ‘Portrait of A.M.H. B.-T. June 1954, oil 75x95 cm’.
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