Jan Toorop and Me…

“What becomes visible… depends on the light you dare to shine on it.”

Yesterday I immersed myself in the world of artist Jan Toorop (1858–1928), a Dutch-Indonesian symbolist known for revealing layers beneath the visible — together with the 8-member Indy artists collective 

And sometimes, something happens that you simply cannot prepare for…

Standing before “The New Generation”, I was unexpectedly moved.  
I didn’t know the title, nor its meaning — and yet it spoke to me instantly.  
It touched a place where words don’t really exist.

What followed felt like a kind of treasure hunt.

At “Melancholy”, I intuitively let a small light glide over the surface… and then it happened…  
Hidden silver pencil drawings by Jan Toorop appeared.  
Only truly visible when touched by light.  
Concealed within the paper — waiting to be seen.

It reminded me of something Jan Toorop once shared:  

“My work is a search… not a knowing.”

Lines, shapes, stories… as if the work only reveals itself when you dare to come close.  
People around us watched in wonder, asking themselves why they had never seen this before.  
And just like that, the invisible became visible.  
Magical

In other works, images emerged too — skulls, a fish, a cow, little angels… as if they had always been there, simply revealing themselves on another layer.  
I could almost feel him, somewhere beyond, watching with a quiet smile beneath his beard.

It became a journey.  Not only through his work, but through what it opens within us.

It also touched something deeply personal — my own roots and search connected to Toorop… as my great-grandmother is Agatha Toorop.

Thank you dear Shelly — for bringing us together, for your warmth, for seeing, feeling, philosophizing and laughing together.  

For those rare moments where everything aligns.

Even a small handwritten note by Toorop revealed an intimate extra layer — opening something of his soul, his friction, his thoughts of that moment in time.

For me, art is not just about looking…  
It is about recognizing symbolism, reading, feeling, discovering new stories.

And one of the most special encounters that day…  
was with Jan Toorop — and the artists of the Indy Collective.

Thank you Indy Collective for this beautiful day filled with connection, recognition and warmth.

Ismène ❤️

#janttoorop #indycollectief #artexperience #symbolism #seeingtheinvisible #artistlife