Herbert van der Poll - Beautiful pencil drawing of a sleeping seal made in 1915 - - Sold

• Poll, Daniel Herbert (Herbert) van der

(Amsterdam 1877 - 1963 Amsterdam)a. In the moonlight, 1920s; oil on canvas, 60 x 90.
Van der Poll, whose father worked in an office, was educated at the Rijksakademie. Professor-director August Allebé often took his students to Artis and during these lessons Van der Poll became fascinated by the wild animals that could be seen there and that soon became his favorite subject. In addition, he regularly painted portraits. At the beginning of his career he earned his living mainly by giving (private) lessons, until he became a lecturer at the Rijksakademie in 1918 (until 1937) with the teaching assignment 'animal anatomy'. This gave him a certain financial independence and that is probably why he exhibited relatively little. He did show his work with some regularity at Arti et Amicitiae, of which he had been a regular member since 1902 and a voting member since 1907. He was quite active within this association and was a member of the board from 1934 to 1945. In 1925 he received the gold medal that was awarded annually by Queen Wilhelmina at the members' exhibition
Van der Poll's oeuvre consists mainly of animal scenes (especially with predators), painted in a realistic, fairly academic style. In addition to paintings, he also made many chalk drawings and some etchings and lithographs. Furthermore, in the 1930s he published a folder with drawing examples and anatomical studies of predators with extensive explanations. Due to the often large formats, but also because he did not shy away from some sensationalism, his work often looks very spectacular and for that reason alone it often contrasts pleasantly with the much more tame work of many of his contemporaries.