True, Wojciech Weiss (1875-1950) was a good and talented painter. But there have been and are many good and talented painters in this world.

The Gemeentemuseum grants us, the Dutch, even the non-Polish, a chance to enjoy a retrospective of Weiss, who is iconic in East European art history, according to the Gemeentemuseum.

He is compared to Mondrian and Kandinsky. Well, as such the exhibition is quite a disappointment.

The accent is particularly on his early works from 1897 to 1905. Only few paintings of a later date are on show and they are technically good but not really interesting in substance without more context.

The comparison with Mondrian and Kandinsky is not substantiated at all. The present show leaves you with the idea of a painter who was good and promising as a youngster, but who apparently didn’t leave many footsteps that stick to the mind later on.

As a biographic exhibition it doesn’t seem to be very complete. As an art historical exhibition it should have shown more works of East European contemporaries to give some idea of his alleged iconic status.

Having said that, his early works are quite good and enjoyable and maybe you find them a good relief from Toorop’s ecstasies, which are also presently on show in the museum.

Also, the Dutch Polish community might be well served with this exhibition.

[Click on the pictures to enlarge]

Content of the pictures courtesy the Gemeentemuseum The Hague

 

Bertus Pieters