Jan Sluijters (1881-1957)

City landscapes in the oeuvre of Jan Sluijters are quite rare. After a stay in Paris, where he seldom painted portraits of the city, Sluijters moved back to Amsterdam in 1906 to stay there permanently. At that time he used a bright palette of colours. He developed this use of colour which culminated in the 1910’s in the style Luminism. Although very different from his sunlit landscapes and the elegant company’s for which he is so well known, his cityscapes also show his great talent as a colourist. With shades of grey, brown and ochre he suggests light, depth and matter. The subtle use of colour is even more developed in his works in the 1920’s and 1930’s as the painting here offered for sale shows. It is comparable to Amsterdam covered in snow, a work from 1922 (fig.1), which also shows the Rokin. Other cityscapes show Amsterdam sites that are under construction. At that time, the city underwent many changes due to the development of new districts and had to adjust to be able to cope with the increasing traffic. These paintings are tempered in colour but not in style. In broad, bold and lively touches he portrays the energetic city life of Amsterdam.