Carel de Nerée tot Babberich - Figures with Folded Hands

Carel de Nerée tot Babberich (1880–1909)

Figures with Folded Hands

c. 1898–1899

Brown ink and India ink with pen on paper

33.8 × 24.2 cm

Provenance:

De Nerée family estate; possibly Mak studio sale, Amsterdam, 1932–33; family member of Carel de Nerée tot Babberich; Jop Ubbens; private collection, the Netherlands.

Literature:

Illustrated in Sander Bink, Verfijnde Lijnen: Carel de Nerée tot Babberich, 1880–1909, Wbooks (2025), no. 278.

Additional Information:

This early sheet belongs to the very first phase of Carel de Nerée’s artistic career and demonstrates how quickly he developed a visual language entirely his own. Although the composition is still strongly indebted to foreign examples, many of the characteristic features of his later work are already present.

The influence of Aubrey Beardsley is clearly visible. The floating figures, emphasis on decorative lines, and asymmetrical composition strongly recall Beardsley’s celebrated illustrations for Oscar Wilde’s Salomé and works such as The Peacock Skirt. Around this time, De Nerée would become intimately acquainted with the English artist’s work through Van Booven.

At the same time, the sheet already reveals a remarkable degree of independence. The focus is almost entirely on faces, hands, and ornament, while large areas of the composition are only summarily worked out. Particularly striking are the fine, flowing lines of the garments, placed with great precision. This combination of detail and empty space would later become one of the most recognizable characteristics of his drawing style.

The folded hands also recur in several early works and appear to suggest contemplation, mysticism, or inner concentration. In this respect, the work connects with the Symbolist interest in the hidden spiritual reality behind the visible world.

Carel de Nerée tot Babberich (1880–1909) ranks among the most intriguing Dutch Symbolists of his time. Well versed in literature, charismatic, and active within The Hague’s society circles, he developed a visual language strongly influenced by Aubrey Beardsley: graphically refined, Gothic in atmosphere, and imbued with a subtle sense of decadence.