Nola Hatterman - Village Community

Nola Hatterman (1899-1984)

Village Community

Monogrammed lower right “N. H.”

Before 1945

Ink, pencil and correction fluid on paper

9.5 x 15.5 cm

Provenance:

Acquired directly from Nola Hatterman by Daan Goulooze (1901-1965), resistance fighter and publisher in Amsterdam; private collection of his son H. Goulooze.

Daan Goulooze, former director of the publishing houses Pegasus and De Republiek der Letteren, maintained close contacts with various artists and regularly used his Amsterdam publishing house as a venue for sales exhibitions. Active in progressive socialist circles, he came into contact with Nola Hatterman in this capacity.

Condition:

In good condition.

Additional information:

Nola Hatterman, known for her powerful and progressive drawings of Suriname, used correction fluid to refine her work. This is clearly visible in illustrations she made for the book De vrijheid gaat in ’t rood gekleed by the communist writer Theun de Vries, published in 1945. The deeply anti-colonial novel was set in Guadeloupe and centred on the social and political struggle of the indigenous population. The book was published by Goulooze, and Hatterman’s drawings were used as designs for the cover.

Nola Hatterman was a Dutch actress, painter and designer who came into contact with progressive Surinamese figures in the Netherlands in the 1930s, including Anton de Kom. In 1953 she settled in Suriname to teach a new generation of Surinamese artists. The identity of Suriname and its people is central to Hatterman’s work. She regarded art as a weapon in the struggle against discrimination and colonialism. After her death in 1984, former students established the Nola Hatterman Institute, later renamed the Nola Hatterman Art Academy.

As an artist, Nola Hatterman embodies the shared postcolonial heritage of Suriname and the Netherlands and forms a key link between Surinamese and Dutch art history.

Her works have recently been acquired by, among others, Kunstmuseum The Hague and included in the permanent display of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.

More information can be found at www.nolahatterman.com and in the book Nola Hatterman, Geen kunst zonder kunnen, 2021, edited by Ellen de Vries.