Conrad Kickert (1882-1965)

SUPERB oil/hardboard panel by Conrad Kickert signed lower center + countersigned, dated 09/36 + located Pont sur le Tarn, Florac Lozère on the back + name of the Gallery in Montpellier. Size without frame 46x55cm. It is indeed a magnificent expressionist composition by Conrad Kickert who painted a bridge over the Tarn at Florac in Lozère in 1936; made during his period of maturity, Kickert is then in full possession of his means, his touch is powerful, rich in matter because partly applied with a knife, and his typical palette, made of browns, reds, ocher, greens, sky blue or white. Lozère was one of his favorite regions, along with Cantal and Brittany, 3 regions where he would often come in the company of one of his best friends, Anders Osterlind. Indeed, after his Breton period in Ploumanach in the years 1915/1920, Kickert will meet Anders Osterlind, either in Brittany or in Honfleur, so they will hardly leave each other, painting and exhibiting together. I think they will also influence each other because their painting has a lot of similarities. Conrad Kickert (Johan Conrad Theodoor Kickert), born November 23, 1882 in The Hague at 10, rue du Schlosstrat, and died in Paris on June 26, 1965, was a self-taught painter, an art critic and a Dutch art collector . His father is Cornelis Johannes Kickert, his mother Anna Maria Margareta Vigelius. Between 1903 and 1910, he worked in Dombourg with, in particular, Jan Toorop and in Bergen. He was one of the first cubists in the Netherlands. In 1910, he founded the Modern Art Circle in Amsterdam, together with Piet Mondriaan, Jan Sluyters and Jan Toorop. The Cercle d'Art Moderne organized several exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum in 1911, 1912 and 1913, which had a strong impact. From 1912, Conrad Kickert mainly lived in Paris, in Denfert-Rochereau, or boulevard Raspail, where he had already visited his friend Lodewijk Schelfhout. With Schelfhout and Mondrian he moved into a studio in Montparnasse and exhibited with painters such as Georges Braque, Raoul Dufy, Henri Matisse, Maurice Utrillo, Kees van Dongen and Maurice Vlaminck. He participated three times in the exhibitions of the Russian avant-garde society "The Knave of Diamonds". In 1913, during successive exhibitions in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Kickert exhibited two works (Côte (sketch), Study for a picture). In 1914, he exhibited four works (La Baie, Sketch for Napoleon's hat. La Bretagne and La Baie de Saint-Quirec) in Moscow. The outbreak of World War I severed Kickert's ties with the Russian avant-garde. During the First World War, he first returned to The Hague, then from 1919 he settled permanently in France, 33, rue Boissonade (14th arrondissement of Paris), although he regularly traveled to the Netherlands. Down. From the 1920s, Kickert began to adopt a more naturalistic style. As a theme, he often chose figures, landscapes and still lifes. As he often continued to work with the palette knife rather than a brush, his work retained a contemporary feel. He is better known in France than in the Netherlands. In 1926, he exhibited at the Retrospective of the Salon des Indépendants the canvases Sunset, Moonlight, Plouman'ach and Nature morte and at the Salon d'Automne L'Odalisque and Nature morte de fleur et de fruits. He lived mainly in Cantal during the Second World War. A museum bringing together many works was opened in 2016 in Saint-Jacques-des-Blats in the Cantal, department where he had lived during the Second World War This painting is in very good condition, I report 2 mini holes on the top of the panel but hidden by the frame; paintwork not recently cleaned; sold in a rather pretty old wooden frame. Guaranteed authentic work