signed 'L.Eland.' (lower left)

oil on canvas, 60x90 cm

The Eland twins

The twin brothers Leo and Arthur Eland were born in 1884 at Salatiga on Java. Both brothers followed an education in drawing in Indonesia and although a military career was provided for both, Leo soon chose a career as a painter whereas Arthur chose a military career. Arthur also continued to find time to paint. Leo was a prolific painter, so much so that an anonymous art critic warned him on the occasion of an exhibition at the end of 1918 in the Art Circle in Batavia, to avoid ‘painting as if on a conveyer belt’ . Leo’s work was sought after, his paintings sold well, and his reputation grew. A sign of his acquired status was that he was commissioned by the Ministry of the Colonies to produce paintings for the International Colonial Exhibition to be held in Paris from May 6 to November 6, 1931, and although he had exchanged Indonesia for the Netherlands around 1920, he returned there in 1928 to seek inspiration for this auspicious commission. In 1930 he sailed back to The Netherlands with the S.S. Baloeran, and shortly afterwards took up a studio near Paris. He produced a number of large paintings for the Dutch Pavilion which unfortunately were lost in the fire of 28 June 1931, as well as a number of works by another painter selected for this venue, Charles Sayers. Brother Arthur was much less well known. He had one exhibition in Leiden at the end of 1940 in art hall ‘Pro Arte’ and that was all. Leo Eland, however, exhibited many times, especially in the Dutch East Indies and in the Netherlands, and as early as 1917 various Indonesian works by Leo Eland, J. Van Aerschot, J. van Aken and H. Hubregtse-Lanzing were exhibited in various places in America. Leo Eland can be characterised as a typical ‘Mooi-Indië’ painter, a light-hearted impressionism that is pleasing to the eye. Smoothly painted colourful paintings of the Indonesian landscape with its volcanoes, sawas, forests and coastal scenes. He painted landscapes from both Java and Sumatra. Leo Eland also visited Morocco which inspired him to paint North-African street views and landscapes. Athur’s work is also impressionistic, but more subdued than Leo’s and characterised by a more restrained use of colour. Leo Eland died in 1952 in The Hague, four years after his brother Arthur.

Source: Delpher

• De Preanger Bode, 8 April 1917. -De Telegraaf 2 July 1930. -De Tijd, 6 December 1940.