Willem Imandt Dutch Indonesian Southeast Asian Seascape. The height of recognition for an Indies painter was to be invited to the yearly August exhibition of the Art Circle of Batavia, which was founded in 1902. Imandt made his debut at the 1920 exhibition, at which 20 artists exhibited. In addition, his paintings were sold for impressive amounts – a small painting went for 150 guilders and the bigger formats for as much as 450 guilders (a labourer’s year income at that time). In 1922 Imandt met and frequently socialized with famous Dutch impressionist Isaac Israëls, who visited The Indies on and off. In a letter to the painter Willem Witsen, written by Israëls, it was clear that the interactions could occasionally be too much: "Otherwise nobody is here. Sometimes you long to see someone else than ‘Imandt the Great Painter here!’"12 Besides the playful pun (Imandt sounds like the word ‘somebody’ in Dutch), Israëls’ remark also lays bare a certain occupational jealousy; in contrast to Imandt he was a nobody in The Indies. Imandt was at the height of his fame. The brother-in-law of Queen Wilhelmina, the Duke of Mecklenburg and the Captain of the Chinese in Surabaya, Han, paid a visit to his atelier in 1923 and all commissioned paintings. "We had the opportunity to view and appreciate his highly artistic and colourful work depicting the beautiful nature of the Preanger and elsewhere."13 In the respected art gallery H. Bos in The Hague, Imandt found an outlet for his work in Europe. Upon his return to patria in 1929, Bos organized a solo exhibition of his work; the show lasted four months and was sold out.14 By the time Imandt settled with his family in Sint-Gillis-Waas – near his birthplace – he was considered a nabob and one of the most famous painters of The Indies. Measures - 16 1/4" high x 24" long, + 1 1/2" frame.