Chris Beekman - Portrait of Egnatius Ydema, 1906

Chris Beekman (1887-1964)

Portrait of the Frisian painter Egnatius Ydema

Pencil drawing

1906

38 x 26 cm

Condition:

In good condition. The paper shows light traces of age.

Provenance:

Private collection, Friesland; private collection, Van Dongen.

Exhibition:

Long-term loan to Singer Laren by the Van Dongen family.

Additional information:

In 1900 Chris Beekman joined the Haagsche Plateelbakkerij Rozenburg. There he met Louis Soonius, with whom he developed a close but short-lived friendship. They worked closely together, also outside Rozenburg. This is reflected in the fact that Beekman, together with Aris Knikker and Louis Soonius, rented a studio on the Noorderbeekdwarsstraat in The Hague. Soonius was close to a group of Frisian artists and introduced Beekman to Ids Wiersma, Ype Wenning and the painter Egnatius Ydema. This intriguing portrait of Egnatius Ydema was made in 1906.

In 1909 Beekman resigned from Rozenburg and turned away from his somewhat traditional circle of friends to explore abstraction. Influenced by socialism and De Stijl, he began experimenting with the various isms of his time.