To the Dutch artist Jan Mankes (1889-1920), painting was a
means to express the ineffable. He studied and sketched his subjects endlessly,
until he knew them by heart. Then he painted them from memory, not necessarily
as they were, but rather capturing their essence. All of his works show
elements of his immediate environment. Besides painting numerous birds and farm
animals, he produced dreamy images of the landscape surrounding his parents’
home in Friesland, and views from his studio in Eerbeek. His portraits are
seldom flattering, but almost always very sensitive.
In this oil painting, we see Jan’s own favorite bird, a barn
owl, which he kept in his parents’ living room (despite their initial protests).
It was given to him by his friend and patron Pauwels, who was in the habit of
providing him with all types of birds, particularly birds of prey. Jan let him
know how much he admired the owl: ‘A truly miraculous animal, in shape, hues
and character; all together an idyll.’
In order to convey this idyll, he used a glazing technique,
where many transparent layers of color are applied onto an opaque base, creating
soft lines and a beautiful flow and depth of colors. It lends a fairytale-like quality
to the owl, who seems self-assured and very much at ease, sitting on his parents’
folding screen.
Regrettably, Jan Mankes died of tuberculosis at the early
age of just 30. Nonetheless, he left behind an impressive oeuvre of about 200
paintings and a large number of drawings and prints.
(text: Pauline Dorhout)
Comments