Herman Kruyder: Expressionist of the Soul at Singer Laren

Singer Laren presents 'Herman Kruyder – Expressionist van de ziel', an exhibition dedicated to the Dutch painter Herman Kruyder (1881–1935). The show opens with early works hung on bright turquoise walls, where romantic, realistic scenes of fields and paradise already hint at the ominous imagery to come, as seen in the allegorical painting 'Het goede oogstjaar voor de Dood' (1914) with its skeletons and bloodied scythe. A familiar Dutch landscape is transformed in 'Bollenveldjes' (1921), where tulip fields become a vivid, expressive terrain. Tension escalates in 'De varkensdoder' (1925), which conveys impending threat, and in 'Echtscheiding' (1923–24), which pulls the viewer into a quarrel between figures. For a long time, Kruyder's depiction of humans and nature was interpreted as a mirror of his mental state. The exhibition offers a different perspective, drawing on new art-historical research to demonstrate how deliberately he selected themes and deployed color to shape his idiosyncratic expressionist style. The overview serves as an introduction to his work, yet the world behind the paintings remains a mystery. Art critic Just Havelaar once described Kruyder's way of looking at the world as 'Zoo intens en zeer vreemd' ('so intense and very strange'). The presentation includes paintings such as 'De hond' (ca. 1934).