#bergen school

[lubentina]

Samuel 'Mommie' Schwarz (Dutch, 1876-1942)

Haven in Mallorca, 1914. Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar.

Oil on canvas.

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Arnout Jacobus Gustaaf Colnot (Amsterdam, January 26, 1887 - Bergen (NH), July 14, 1983) was a Dutch painter, graphic artist, draftsman and lithographer. He is the father of Guustaaf Colnot and the painters Karel Colnot and Clara Colnot.  He is considered to belong to the Bergense School. He lived from 1913-1932 in the North Holland place called Bergen, a place where many artists lived at the time and worked in the painting district of the Bergense School. From 1943-1969 he lived in Amsterdam. At the end of his life he lived again in Bergen. He has made several artistic trips, including to Bruges and Paris. He was a member of Arti et Amicitiae (Amsterdam) and the Vereeniging Sint Lucas. He is the teacher of Kees Boendermaker and Rinus Duin. Arnout Colnot is largely autodidact. He received his artistic education in 1901 and 1907 at the Jan Maandag decoration studio. His work shows characteristics of the Bergens School, a school that is known to combine influences of Cubism with an expressionism in dark shades. He painted trees, figure shows, interiors, landscapes, winter landscapes, moonlight landscapes, forest landscapes, portraits, cityscapes, villagescapes and still lifes. His work 'still life with korhanen' is in the collection of the Abbemuseum in Eindhoven.

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Mommie Schwarz - Selfportrait - 1935-40

Mommie Schwarz (real name Samuel Leser Schwarz; 28 July 1876 - 19 November 1942) was a Dutch Jewish painter and graphic artist. He also worked as a designer of book covers. In 1920 he married Else Berg. Together they became an artistic couple and were part of the Bergen School of painters. Schwarz and Berg were both killed at Auschwitz in 1942.

Schwarz was the tenth child of Leser Schwarz and Julie Winter. The family had eleven children. Between 1895-1897 Schwarz received his art training at the Academy of Antwerp. In 1897 he went to New York where he remained two years. In 1903 he spent some time in Madrid. He moved to Berlin because of his interest in German expressionism in 1905, and there he met his future wife, Else Berg. In 1911 he settled with Berg in the Netherlands. In 1915 they moved to the town of Schoorl, where they established close ties with Leo Gestel and other artists from the Bergen School. The couple married in 1920 and moved to Amsterdam. From 1927 they lived adjacent to Amsterdam’s Sarphatipark. By this time, Schwarz had cut all ties with Judaism. The couple traveled extensively, including trips to Mallorca, the former Yugoslavia, Turkey and Spain. 

Schwarz belonged to the Bergen School of painters and was influenced by such painters as Leo Gestel and Charley Toorop. The works of the Bergen School are characterized by Cubist figuration and expressionist influences in dark shades, which also applies to much of Schwarz’s work. Schwarz is especially known for his harbor scenes, landscapes, portraits and still lifes. He also worked as an illustrator and designed book covers and posters, including illustrations for the Dutch art magazine Wendingen.

After the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II, they refused to go into hiding or to wear the Star of David. On 12 November 1942, they were arrested by the Germans and deported via the Westerbork transit camp to Auschwitz, where they were executed immediately upon arrival on 19 November 1942.

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Else berg - Portrait of Mommie Schwarz  - 1936

Else Berg (February 19, 1877 – November 19, 1942) was a Dutch painter. She was married to Dutch painter Mommie Schwarz. On November 12, 1942, they were arrested by the Germans and deported via the Westerbork transit camp to Auschwitz concentration camp, where they were executed immediately upon arrival on November 19, 1942.

Mommie Schwarz (real name Samuel Leser Schwarz; 28 July 1876 - 19 November 1942) was a Dutch Jewish painter and graphic artist. He also worked as a designer of book covers. In 1920 he married Else Berg. Together they became an artistic couple and were part of the Bergen School of painters. Schwarz and Berg were both killed at Auschwitz in 1942.

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Else Berg - Girl with fox -  c1905

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Else Berg - Composition No 2 - ca 1920

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Else Berg -  Arum-lilies in a vase - ca 1917

[dutch-and-flemish-painters]

Else Berg - A still life with flowers - 1916-20