Figurative Painting in The Netherlands During the German Occupation, Between Technology and Tradition

This paper addresses the National Socialists’ co-option of figurative painting during World War II, specifically Dutch “Neorealism,” during the German Occupation of The Netherlands. Neorealism is notable for its ambiguous imagery and ironic undertones and is sometimes described as the Dutch version of Neue Sachlichkeit or Magic Realism. Because the Neorealists’ work was figurative and recalled the themes and techniques Dutch Old Masters, it appealed to the German cultural authorities who came into power during the Occupation. I argue that the Neorealists’ paintings created under the auspices of (and sometimes purchased by) the “Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer” (the Dutch equivalent of Joseph Goebbel’s Reichskulturkammer) should not be read as espousing the values of the National Socialist cultural regime. They should instead be viewed as expressions of the doubts, fears, anxieties, and ambivalence that epitomized the Dutch experience under the Occupation. In my analysis of the work of Neorealist painters Raoul Hynckes and Carel Willink, I will demonstrate how they articulated these feelings by combining their native Dutch painting traditions with the technical aesthetics of film, such as the new medium’s ability to take subjective positions, allowing the viewer to feel as if he/ she is entering the illusion of a cinematic space. This anachronistic combination best expressed the Neorealists’ sense of alienation by communicating their feeling of dislocation from time and space during this tense moment in Dutch history. These works will be discussed within the context of the German Occupation and the rise of National Socialist ideology in The Netherlands.