Portrait of a Wounded KNIL soldier

Portrait of a Wounded KNIL soldier

Portret van gewonde KNIL-militair

SK-A-4954

signature and date: ‘Isaac Israels 1882’

After joining the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) in the former slave fortress of Elmina, Ghana, this man was called Kees Pop. His own name is unknown, but his parents were known as Kwamena and Ekoerva. ‘Pop’ served twelve years and fought in the Aceh War in Indonesia. Israëls painted him – with medals – while he was on sick leave in the Netherlands shortly before he returned to Africa.

Documentatiemap Schilderijen: melding van brief van Isaac Israels aan Philippe Zilcken zonder datum, vermoedelijk over deze afgebeelde persoon [Mayken Jonkman, RKD, 2006]; redegeving aankoop Rijksmuseum (2000); J. Roosmalen, herkomst gegevens (2000); diverse artikelen over Afrikaanse KNIL-militairen; archiefstukken stamboeken KNIL (Nationaal Archief); reproducties andere Afrikaanse militairen.

painter: Isaac Israels (signed by artist), Harderwijk

1882

olieverf op hardboard

height 37 cm x width 23 cm

purchase 2000-02

Public domain

…; anonymous sale, Amsterdam (Sotheby´s), 24 April 1989, no. 364, unsold;{Note RMA.} anonymous sale, Amsterdam (Sotheby´s), 7 November 1989, no. 302, unsold;{Copy RMA.}…; from Sotheby´s to Richard Bionda;{according to a remark by R. Bionda, bought at an aftersale.} from whom to the dealer B. Paulus van Pauwvliet, Kastheel ´t Geelhuys, Oosterhout, Noord-Brabant, 1995; …; from the dealer Schlichte Bergen, Amsterdam, fl.62,500, to the museum, 2000

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.

• Documentatiemap Schilderijen: melding van brief van Isaac Israels aan Philippe Zilcken zonder datum, vermoedelijk over deze afgebeelde persoon [Mayken Jonkman, RKD, 2006]; redegeving aankoop Rijksmuseum (2000); J. Roosmalen, herkomst gegevens (2000); diverse artikelen over Afrikaanse KNIL-militairen; archiefstukken stamboeken KNIL (Nationaal Archief); reproducties andere Afrikaanse militairen.
• Veilingcatalogus Sotheby's, 19th Century European Paintings, Amsterdam 7 november 1989, p. 97, cat.nr. 302 (afb.).
• Ineke van Kessel, 'Werf een 'compagnie neger soldaten'', Historisch Nieuwsblad 9 (2000) nr. 2, p. 40-43.
• Eveline Sint Nicolaas, ''Wollanda hitam' een zwarte Hollander', Rijksmuseum Kunstkrant 26 (2001) nr. 5, p. 8-9.

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

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200412933