Portrait of Marie Jeanette de Lange

Jan Toorop's 'Portrait of Marie Jeanette de Lange' (1900) depicts a woman from the Dutch art world — de Lange was likely connected to the cultural world of The Hague and Amsterdam where Toorop moved. After his intense Symbolist period of the 1890s (the 'Three Brides' and his most elaborate Symbolist compositions), Toorop's work at the turn of the century showed a partial return toward representational engagement, though his portraits maintained the decorative, psychologically charged quality that distinguished his approach from more conventional Dutch portraiture.

Toorop renders de Lange with the stylized, decorative approach that characterized his portrait work — the face depicted with the flat, somewhat simplified modeling of his Symbolist-influenced style, the surrounding decorative elements and the overall composition organized with the aesthetic awareness that distinguished his work from straightforward naturalistic portraiture. His handling of the linear elements in the portrait reflects the Art Nouveau-influenced stylization of his mature approach.