Carel Willink (DUTCH, 1900-1983)

Huis met de twee trappen shows a large, late 19th century Amsterdam villa. Although we are not sure whether this villa really exists, it strongly resembles the villas around the Vondelpark near Willink's studio. Willink has always been attracted to the architecture of 19th century houses in Amsterdam. They play an important role in his work. Often as a background and sometimes, like in Huis met de twee trappen, almost like a portrait of a house. The emptiness of the composition, the grey lighting and the absence of the human figure give the feeling that this is a place of danger. This feeling is amplified by the presence of the big black cat in the lower left corner. In these years Willink often added animals, sometimes even exotic species, to his compositions. He stated: "Animals as such don't say anything but at the moment you put them on the stairs or near a building then all of a sudden these stairs or this building have another meaning, just like the animal" (op.cit, W.Kramer, p.154).
Model for this cat was Willink's own beautiful grey Angora cat called 'Ploe'.