Self-portrait as St John the Baptist

Self-portrait as St John the Baptist

SK-A-4991

: ‘Willink '37-38’

Willink’s lean body and the bare landscape lend this painting an ominous atmosphere. On the eve of the Second World War (1939-1945) Willink portrayed himself as John the Baptist, the prophet who preached virtue and righteousness and who considered baptism as salvation from all sins. With this internalized selfportrait, Willink seems to want to ward off the menace and turmoil of the times.

Jan Engelman, ‘Willinks moderne pathetiek’, De Groene Amsterdammer, 15 oktober 1938, p. 10, 11

1937 - 1938

tempera en olieverf op doek

• 90 cm x 68 cm
• 7.5 cm

Purchased with the support of the BankGiro Lottery and S.M.E. Willink-Quiel, Amsterdam

S.M.E. Willink-Quiël

…; from the artist´s widow, Sylvia Maria Elisabeth Willink - Quiël (1944-), Amsterdam, € 220,000, to the museum, with support from the BankGiro Loterij and the artist´s widow Sylvia Maria Elisabeth Willink - Quiël, 2006

Please note that this provenance was formulated with a special focus on provenance research for the years 1933-45 and could therefore be incomplete. There may be more (mostly earlier) provenance information known in the museum. In case this item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45, the Rijksmuseum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.

• Jan Engelman, ‘Willinks moderne pathetiek’, De Groene Amsterdammer, 15 oktober 1938, p. 10, 11
• H.B.F., ‘Uit de keuken der beeldende kunsten. De schilder A.C. Willink op zijn atelier’, De Groene Amsterdammer, 27 juni 1940, p.11
• NRC Handelsblad, 8 maart 2007
• J. Slagter, ‘Willink’s keerpunt’, Elsevier’s Geillustreerd Maandschrift, 1938, p. 420-423
• A.C. Willink, ‘Waakzame bewondering. De Tintoretto-tentoonstelling te Venetië’, De Groene Amsterdammer, 14 augustus 1937
• E. Baks, 'Willinks Johannes naar het Rijksmuseum', Algemeen Dagblad, 8 maart 2007
• Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Jaarverslag 2006, p. 72, 73.
• Museum voor moderne kunst Arnhem 1997
• M. van der Weg, 'Aanwinst : Willinks 'blote buikje' naar Rijksmuseum', Rijksmuseum Kunstkrant 33 (2007) 2, p. 24, 25, afb..
• Tentoonstelling van elf nieuwe werken van A.C. Willink, Kunsthandel Van Lier Amsterdam 1938

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/20074222