Henri van Daalhoff - Portrait of a woman with cigarette

Hermanus Antonius (Henri) van Daalhoff (1867-1953). Portrait of a smoking woman. Oil paint on panel. Unsigned. In good condition with signs of age. This painting was created by the artist in the first half of the twentieth century as an advertising design for the tobacco industry. It later ended up in a tobacco shop in Den Bosch.

Hermanus Antonius (Henri) van Daalhoff (Haarlem, December 30, 1867 - November 25, 1953) was a Dutch painter. He was self-taught. He painted still lifes and especially many buildings (farms) and landscapes.

His work is represented in various Dutch museums, including the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and the Kröller-Müller Museum.

Van Daalhof was born in Haarlem. At the age of 17 he moved to Leiden, where he started painting in his spare time. At the age of 22 he started working as a baker in Amsterdam. He later lived and worked mainly in The Hague. Formed himself but was strongly influenced by HP Beerder in his early period. Painted in a blurred pointillist style specific to him, still lifes, cityscapes, but mainly landscapes and farms.

In fact, Van Daalhof never painted the world into which he was born, as much as the world that was born within him. He was a strange painter. In a guileless, unadorned way, he has created a production that testifies to an authentic vocation. Work with a tranquil, poetic atmosphere.

Van Daalhoff's symbolism has a strong connection with symbols and themes such as the fatal and the innocent woman, anarchy and labor. But pristine landscapes are also subjects that can be found in Daalhoff.

The biography of Daalhoff by Annelies Lincewicz (Leiden, 1990) reports on the character of Daalhoff's oeuvre: "What is striking in Daalhoff's art is the use of delicate, warm colors, softly flowing, faded, rarely sharply defined shapes, quietly wavy lines and the avoidance of strong light-dark contrasts. With these stylistic means the artist manages to evoke a dreamy, poetic mood. The composition, which is often simple and composed of many horizontals and verticals, also contributes to the creation of an atmosphere of peaceful silence." (Source: Wikipedia).