Horses

About this artwork.

Jacob Gerard (Job) Hansen (1899 - 1960) was a painter from Groningen and member of art society De Ploeg. Initially Job Hansen was not a painter and his artistic career was therefore different from that of other members of De Ploeg. In his younger years, Hansen lived in Amsterdam in the same house as Johan Dijkstra, where he later also met the painter Jan Wiegers. He worked in Amsterdam as a trade correspondent but returned to Groningen in 1920. In Groningen he had a strong interest in innovative experiments within Groningen painting. He was invited to become a member of De Ploeg in 1923. As a non-painter, Hansen was appreciated for his great knowledge of modern painting and his artistic involvement, until he left the art society in 1925 due to an internal conflict.

Around 1927 a period arose in which a clearly recognizable direction within the art society De Ploeg was leading. This was impressionistic in nature and was characterized by an extremely expressive brushwork and a light and transparent use of color. Job Hansen developed a unique painting technique in which diluted oil paint was spread on prepared panels in an almost watercolor-like manner. The way in which expressiveness was co-determined by the painting material in his work pointed forward to the experimental and abstract expressionist forms of art.

Job Hansen maintained strong personal contacts with Jan Altink. He always took Hansen with him on his painting tours through the countryside of Groningen. Hansen initially painted in the open air, the Groningen landscape was favorite besides sailing boats, quays and flower still lifes. After he moved to Grachtstraat in 1933, he increasingly worked in his studio. He had the attic room on the first floor of the small house converted into a studio space with an open view of the Noorderplantsoen. From this space he regularly painted the view over the park, the canal pond and the adjacent houses. In 1934 Hansen again became a member of De Ploeg, this time as a painter. He painted Horses in 1940.

Facts & Figures.

• Artist(s)
  Job Hansen

• Year of creation
  1940

• Dimensions (in cm)
  54x54

• Collection
  Town Hall Collection

• Technic
  Oil paint on panel

• Floor
  Ground floor