Dutch
EnglishThomas Cool (1851-1904)My great-grandfather Thomas Cool (Sneek 1851 - Bussum 1904) is mentioned by Christopher Wright, “Paintings in Dutch Museums”, p81. He is hardly known. A general characterisation is, if I may try, that his paintings are between realism and impressionism, with a dreamy quality that is hard to pin down.
See this page for more images of his work and the Nightwatch of Impressionism (Nachtwacht van het Impressionisme). See contacts with artists around 1895 - and what is known w.r.t. Vincent van Gogh and Louis Couperus. Apparently, the character "Duco van der Staal" in Couperus book "The inevitable" (1900) has been partly inspired by my great-grandfather (see the Dutch discussion above). This is an exhibition. The label "Frisian painter" derives only from his place of birth Sneek and makes as much sense as saying that Vincent came from Brabant and Rembrandt from Leiden. There is a painting in Rijksmuseum, Frans Hals Museum and Fries Museum. Some huge paintings on Saint Peter's Cathedral were once stored in the attic of the Peace Palace in The Hague but eventually deteriorated too much, and have been destroyed. The painting in Boymans-van Beuningen belong to cousin Thomas (Simon) Cool (1831-1870).
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Tine Cool (1887-1944)![]() My great-aunt Tine Cool, daughter of this TC, won a first prize in a contest with her book "Wij met ons vijven in Rome" ("The five of us in Rome") in 1928, with autobiographical elements of living in Rome as a child in an artist's family. The jury consisted of well-known Dutch writers such as Anna van Gogh - Kaulbach, Top Naeff and J.P. Zoomers-Vermeer. Interested readers still can find the book fully digitalized in the Royal Library (KB). This link discusses prize-winning Dutch children books in 1914-1940. This is the 2011 English translation, that also includes historical references. |