Carel Willink (1900-1983)

Carel Willink came into touch with the Constructivist movement in the early 1920s and this influenced his work: some of his collages from 1922, with right-angled and linear forms, are reminiscent of the collages by Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948), who was, in turn, influenced by the form discipline of Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931). In 1923 Willink reached the pinnacle of his Constructivist period, with paintings constructed from formal elements and colour planes with no reference to a reality outside the picture plane.
Through Constructivism Willink met artists with similar ideals, like Josef Peeters (1895-1960), Fernand Berckelaers (1901-199) (Michel Seuphor) and writer Eddy du Perron (1899-1940) who belonged to the literary avant-garde. Together they established De Driehoek, a magazine with a strict Constructivist program. It was in 1924 when figurative elements started to reappear in Willink's work, like in Zilveren Bruiloft from that year (Jaffé cat.no. 79), which shows a clear affinity with Fernand Léger. The present lot was exhibited at Willlink's first solo-exhibition in 1924 at Gebouw Heystee in Amsterdam. It can be considered a work of transition between the strict Constructivist period and the more figurative style that followed in Willink's oeuvre from 1924 onwards.