Drawing by Jan Toorop “War and Peace" 1922 discovered

To be auctioned on June 16, 2025

No one knew where Jan Toorop’s black chalk drawing War and Peace from 1922 was located. “Jan Toorop’s “War and Peace" (1922) was only known as a lithograph and later as a bronze relief. Now, the black chalk drawing has suddenly surfaced. This drawing had been in a private collection all this time. It was the Deventer architect Martinus Antonius Roebbels who bought the drawing from Jan Toorop in April 1922. As described in a letter from Jan Toorop. Toorop converted to the Catholic faith in 1909. From that period on, themes such as redemption, penance, and the struggle between good and evil became important. “War and Peace" shows a soldier with a helmet next to a Madonna. The drawing is also inspired by Toorop’s famous drawing “The Pilgrim" (now in the Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht).

The work was made as a lithograph and also served as a design for a bronze bas-relief, created by A. Cools at F.A.N. Fisch.

It is also remarkable that the original frame has been preserved.