JACOB SIMON HENDRIK KEVER

(Amsterdam 1854 Laren 1922)

Brotherly Love
signed in the lower right Kever
watercolor on paper
19 3/16 x 17 1/8 inches (492 x 437mm.)
PROVENANCE
Dr. Katherine Kromm Merritt, Stamford, Connecticut, until circa 1990, from whom
acquired by
Private Collection, Vinalhaven, Maine, until 2015

In the warm morning glow of a country kitchen, a young boy entertains his little sister
seated in a high chair. In return her adoring glance speaks volumes. The dramatic angling
of the babys high chair, whose design harks back to the seventeenth century, animates
the scene. Through an economy of means and a limited palette of largely brown and
orange, Jacob Simon Hendrik Kever captures the richness of the moment and its idyllic
rusticity.

Josef Israels was the first to encourage Kever to study painting. He began his training at
the Koninklijke Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, in 1869, studying with
Petrus Franciscus Greive until 1872. From 1874 - 1875 he attended the Rijksakademie
van Beeldende Kunsten, also in Amsterdam. From 1878-1879 under the tutelage of
Charles Verlat he was enrolled in the Koninklijke Acaemie voor Schone Kunsten in
Antwerp. His subjects included portraits, cityscapes, landscapes, flowers, genre and
interior scenes in watercolors, oils, and etchings. Throughout his career he worked in
Blaricum, Nunspeet, the province of North Brabant and Eemnes. Although not
technically considered a member of the Laren School he also lived there from 1877-1879
and again in 1905-1922. He further maintained an apartment in Amsterdam near the
Oosterpark where he resided during the winter months. The area must have constituted
somewhat of an artists community as his neighbors were Geo Poggenbeek, Nicolaas
Bastert and later Willem Witsen, Isaac Israels, and George Hendrik Breitner. Painting
sojourns were made to the forest of Fontainebleau and the Harz Mountains. He was a
member of Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam. Until at least 1910 he exhibited at shows in
Arnhem, Amsterdam, The Hague, Munich, Paris, Rotterdam, St. Louis, and Venice,
winning several gold and silver medals. Kevers paintings formed part of the permanent
collections of the museums of Albany, Amsterdam, Brooklyn, Brussels, Dordrecht,
Haarlem, The Hague, Heino, Kampen, Laren, Middelburg, and Toledo, Ohio.1

It was scenes such as this depicting Dutch cottage interiors filled with sunlight that
brought Kever lasting fame. The young boys attire confirms the setting as the Gooi
region where Laren is located. 2 Although inspired by Israels, who is credited for

1
Biographical information taken from Dr. Ulrich Thieme & Dr. Felix Becker, Jacobus
Simon Hendrik Kever in Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Knstler, Veb E.A.
Seeman Verlag, Leipzig, volume XX, 1940, p. 277; Jacob Simon Hendrik Kever in
The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Pennsylvania State University Press,
1976, p. 88; Pieter A. Scheen, Jacob Simon Hendrik Kever in Lexikon Nederlandse
Beeldende Kunstenaars 1750-1880, Uitgeverij Pieter A. Scheen BV,s-Gravenhage,
1981, p. 266; and Jacob Simon Hendrik Kever on rkd.nl (RKD Explore) website.
2
Anja Frenkel, Jacob Simon Hendrik Kever in 25 Jaar Kunsthandel R Polak,
exhibition catalog, Panorama Mesdag, The Hague, May 18-June 17, 2001, p. 164.
discovering Laren, it would be Albert Neuhuys work that ultimately had the strongest
impact on Kever and who is regarded as the true founder of the Laren School.3 By the
end of the nineteenth century a large art colony had formed in the village. In 1903 an
anonymous writer for the Toledo Daily Blade newspaper described Larens appeal,
Holland, like the rest of the world is gradually changing, and much of the old and
picturesque is passing away. The old stone floors are being supplanted by wooden ones
and the great fire places are falling into disuse through the introduction of crude and
inartistic cast-iron stoves. However Laren has been lightly touched by the hand of time,
and while there have been some changes to conform with modern times, they are in the
main but trivial and consequently it is an ideal spot for the artist.4 The population
consisted of weavers, laborers, and sheep farmers, living in dwellings whose secluded
and serene atmosphere fascinated artists. Besides Neuhuys, Lammert van der Tonge,
Willy Sluiter, Lion Schulman, and Jacob Dooijewaard were among other artists working
in the area.

Neuhuys concentrated on cottage interiors that featured the traditional lifestyle of the
village. Lacking Josef Israels penchant for drama, his scenes are ones of contentment. In
what has been described as a frankness of manner his handling is looser and more
atmospheric.5 Kever followed Neuhuys lead but employed a more vivid palette. The
immediacy of the imagery of works such as Brotherly Love stems from the medium. At
his best in watercolor, the reason for this was clarified in an exhibition catalog devoted to
Kever by Gebroeders Binger of Amsterdam. How many times he made, under the
superior impression of some sublime subject, an excellent and successful study or sketch,
being filled with a feverish desire to give back what he had seen as sensitive and as
complete as possible but how many times there followed for the artist so discouraging
disappointment that gradually during the working up to a picture, the superior qualities of
the original study were lost.6 What further differentiated Kever from Neuhuys was a
lack of sentimentality. Contemporary viewers felt the children of his brush are real
children, lovingly and yet realistically rendered 7 and this is exactly why Kevers
Brotherly Love resonates today. Basked in warm colors, devoid of pretense while stripped
to its emotional core, it is a profound portrayal of innocence.

3
John Sillevis, The Years of Fame in The Hague School, Dutch Masters of the 19th
Century, exhibition catalog, Royal Academy of Arts, London, & traveling, 1983, p. 95;
John Sillevis, Albert Neuhuys in The Hague School, op. cit., p. 263; and Geraldine
Norman ed; Dutch Painters of the 19th Century, Marius, Antique Collectors Club,
Woodbridge, 1988, p. 199.
4
Annette Stott, Holland Mania, The Overlook Press, 1998, p. 52.
5
Elizabeth W. Champney, Modern Dutch Painters in The Century Magazine, volume
LVI, The Century Co., New York, 1898, p. 404; and John Sillevis, Albert Neuhuys in
The Hague School, op. cit., p. 264.
6
Tentoonstelling van Werken door J.S.H. Kever, exhibition catalog, Gebroeders Binger,
Amsterdam, (not dated but published during the artists lifetime), unpaginated.
7
Elizabeth W. Champney, op. cit., p. 405.