Dromerig schilderij met twee gestileerde figuren met opvallende hoofddeksels tegen een zachte, lichte achtergrond. Aad de Haas, Twee clowntjes, 1942, olieverf op board, 56 x 52 cm, Collectie SCHUNCK, gemeente Heerlen. Verworven met steun van het Mondriaan Fonds.

Aad de Haas

Aad de Haas, Twee clowntjes, 1942, olieverf op board, 56 x 52 cm, Collectie SCHUNCK, gemeente Heerlen. Verworven met steun van het Mondriaan Fonds. Fotografie: Peter Cox

Discover the distinctive oeuvre of Aad de Haas and his perspective on religion, eroticism and power.

Where

SCHUNCK Glaspaleis

Price

Vrije toegang

The distinctive painter and printmaker Aad de Haas (1920, Rotterdam – 1972, Schaesberg) played a unique role in the Limburg art scene in the years following the Second World War. Although he was not part of the artistic avant-garde, he worked tirelessly to develop an independent body of work. It offers a portrait of a deeply engaged man whose experiences of war and the Church led to a merging of life and work.

The SCHUNCK collection of Aad de Haas’s work comprises an important part of his artistic legacy and includes paintings, drawings, monotypes, lithographs, etchings and linocuts: more than 375 inventory numbers in total. Through his work, you can explore his perspective on social developments surrounding themes such as religion, temptation, eroticism and power.

Surrealistisch schilderij met fantasiefiguren, maskers, muziekinstrumenten en een roze paardje in warme roodbruine tinten. Aad de Haas, Speelgoedétalage, 1942, olieverf op doek, 50 x 64 cm, Collectie SCHUNCK, gemeente Heerlen. Verworven met steun van het Mondriaan Fonds.

Credits: Peter Cox

Four stylistic periods

De Haas’s work can broadly be divided into four stylistic periods. Following his early period in the 1940s, characterised by hazily painted, fairy-tale-like panels featuring fragile figures and everyday objects, De Haas entered his expressionist period in the 1950s. During this period, he painted with vigorous brushstrokes, mainly in black, red, white and yellow, on large panels, repeatedly connecting religious themes with eroticism. The atmosphere in these paintings is often oppressive.

The paintings from the 1960s are characterised by pastel colours, red outlines around the depicted figures and backgrounds consisting of abstract planes. Eroticism remains an important theme, but is no longer combined with religion. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the final period of both his artistic career and his life began. He returned to a hazier style, working with rich, intense hues and soft pastels. Once again, eroticism was the dominant theme. The styles of the three preceding periods seem to merge in the works from this final period.

An encounter between two artists

For her retrospective exhibition Where Are You From at SCHUNCK Museum, artist Ina van Zyl made a personal selection of works by Aad de Haas, including works from the SCHUNCK collection and several special loans. In the selected works, she recognises a connection with her own oeuvre: in the expressive power of small formats, everyday subjects and a vulnerable humanity in which beauty, tenderness and loneliness come together. Through Van Zyl’s personal insights, you see De Haas’s art through her eyes: a unique encounter between two artists.