51. Wynand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp
(1874-1950)
Tooren van Amersfoort

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Nieuwenkamp, Tooren van Amersfoort

Tooren van Amersfoort

Etching, 1906, 392 x 330 mm., Hubert E-86. A fine artist’s proof printed in brown ink on vellum with full margins, signed in pencil, titled and inscribed. Born in Amsterdam, a basically self-taught artist and known later to his friends by his nickname, “The Wanderer,” Nieuwenkamp, in 1904, became the first European artist to visit Bali. A book has been devoted to his experiences there and the art that he produced based upon the years he spent exploring the island. While this work precedes all but his earliest travels to exotic places (Sumatra, India, North Africa also, among others), it already shows a distinctive personal style of drawing and etching, based to a certain extent on Art Nouveau, which would be incorporated in his later work. He rarely painted, producing most of his work in drawings and prints, but he may well be ranked as among the most interesting under-appreciated artists of the twentieth century.