Van Dongen, Kees

(1877-1968)

   painter

   Of Dutch origin, Cornelius Theodorus Marie Van Dongen, or Kees Van Dongen as he is known, was born in Delfthaven. His talent was evident early, as he painted at first in a progressively realistic style, marked by an impressionist influence. Van Dongen became a sketch artist and reporter for a Dutch newspaper, then in 1897 settled in Paris, where he worked at various jobs while submitting his satirical sketches to different journals. He became interested for a while in neoimpressionist theories and soon began experimenting with form and strong colors. Settling at Bateau-Lavoir in 1905, he became familiar with the group of artists that critics would call "fauvists" and exhibited with them at the Salon d'automne of 1905. Some of his works were also shown in Germany by Die Briicke group, thus contributing to the connection between the fauvists and the German expressionists. His landscapes, scenes of society and of music halls, and female figures with heavily made-up faces are distinguished by their audacious treatment, stylization of form, with the accentuation of certain more expressive features and an often arbitrary richness of color. After causing a scandal at the Salon with a nude that was judged as indecent Van Dongen became one of the favorite portraitists of the aristocratic and theatrical worlds.