Piet van der Hem (1885-1961)
At the beginning of the 20th century, Dutch art is hard to keep up with for Van der Hem and his focus shifts from painting and drawing lighthearted, elegant scenes to creating powerful portraits. When he settles permanently in Scheveningen in 1918, he chooses to paint true-to-life portraits commissioned by wealthy Americans and Dutch people, including the Royal Family. He also makes some hunting scenes (hunting is his hobby), book illustrations, posters, advertising plates and political cartoons on commission. By painting these portraits he assures himself of a stable income, which is very important to Van der Hem, who had an eternal fear of running out of money. His great technical ability and the good likeness of his portraits make him a successful society portraitist. Over the years he has portrayed many prominent people, including the dancer Mata Hari, the official portrait of the Royal Family from 1925/1926 and the wedding ceremony of Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard from 1937.

The work offered here is a cartoon mocking the 1933 House of Representatives elections. No less than 800 candidates, not all of them suitable, participated in these elections. The strength and simplicity with which this work was made by Van der Hem is what this beautiful print symbolizes. Original painted, as opposed to printed, cartoons by Van der Hem are extremely rare. That makes this piece a true collector's item.

Frame: Handmade sleek frame and equipped with UV-resistant museum glass
Work dimensions: 42 x 31 cm

Provenance: The work comes from a private collection in the Netherlands

Viewing is of course possible. We also have our own in-house frame maker, which is celebrating its 85th anniversary. We also use conservators from the trade association: 'Restauratoren Nederland'. If you would like to make use of this, we would of course like to hear from you.