Floris Arntzenius Dutch, 1864-1925

Kunsthandel P.A. Scheen, The Hague, 1981

In the catalogue Floris Arntzenius (1864-1925), het Haagse leven van gisteren we can read the following characteristic about the artist: “...a not too large, sturdy built gentleman with a tanned face and fairly fierce eyes; a bitten off, thick and dark moustache above a somewhat mocking mouth... a great conversationalist and the life and soul of the social meetings held at the table in the old Pulchri Studio in the afternoons... a typical Hague character during the time that Pulchri and its members were certain of the public interest for the artistic part of the residents...”

Floris Arntzenius was born in Surabaya in 1864 and was the son of Bruno Arntzenius, an artillery officer. Together with his sister, he was sent to The Netherlands in 1875 to complete his education, but instead of choosing the agricultural college in Wageningen as his father desired, Floris went to the Academy of Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam, where Allebé and Wijnveld were his teachers. Floris, like many painters did in that time, continued his education at the Academy of Antwerp. Initially, he settled in Amsterdam where he concentrated mostly on painting landscapes. In 1892, however, he moved to the Hooikade in The Hague and found a studio in the Piet Heinstraat. Later, he shared a studio with C. A. Waning at the Spui, no. 58. After his marriage, Arntzenius moved to the Van Lennepweg, opposite from the residence of Willem Maris. As was shown in the quote above, Arntzenius felt right at home in the artistic circles of Pulchri Studio. He held positions on the board of this artistic society and was also a member of the Hollandsche Teeken-Maatschappij since 1896. Floris Arntzenius died in 1925.

Before Floris Arntzenius settled in The Hague in 1892, he had applied himself mostly to landscapes and portraits, which showed a certain resemblance with the work of his college friends from Amsterdam: Jan Veth and Willem Witsen. During his time in The Hague, Arntzenius preferred the lively, somewhat common neighbourhoods as the subject of his paintings and watercolours. Especially his views of the Spuistraat and the Wagenbrug were well-liked. Floris Arntzenius was especially adept in depicting rainy and bleak days when the streets of The Hague were an open field for the raw wind, the passers-by would duck down into their clothes and the coachmen would urge their horses to greater speed. Here, Arntzenius offers a view of the Spui from the Spuistraat with the Lange Poten in the distance; the asphalt still shines from a shower. The shopping ladies and gentlemen, however, have already closed their umbrellas. Floris also made an oil painting of this scene.