DANCE IMAGES IN THE ART OF THE NETHERLANDS
Yvonne Beumkes, september 17, 2025

This post starts with an impressive Art Deco image, created by Pieter den Besten, which adorns a wall of Café Central located in the heart of Gouda. In conclusion, I return to Gouda to showcase two works by the contemporary artist Anita Gaasbeek (1964), who resides and works in that very city.

Gaasbeek has a passion for dance. As a youngster, she accompanied her friend to ballet class and was so charmed by the dance that she sketched the young ballet dancers. Today, she is a regular visitor at various ballet companies, sketching professional dancers during classes and rehearsals.
“The challenge,” Gaasbeek explains, “lies in capturing the tension of the moment.” Bright, the artwork shown below, captures that precise moment. I can envision the sensation of the dancer’s sweeping movement and truly sense (having been a dancer) the drive of the downward lunge and the rotary thrust of the torso. Bright captures the dancer in a fleeting moment when backlight fortuitously highlights the gracefully moving figure.

Anita Gaasbeek: Bright – acrylic paint on linen – 100 cmx100 cm – 2006 private collection

Bright is a perfectly chosen title. The most obvious reasons are the brightness of the light and the general radiant hue of the dancing figure. However, it’s not just that; Bright is a close-up of a rapturous dancer. She moves effortlessly, brightly if you wish, rendering her striking in her lithe simplicity.

Anita Gaasbeek: Dancer on Pointes (Danseres op Spitzen) – acrylic paint– 70 cm x 100 cm

What is more common than a ballerina adjusting her ribbons? The French impressionist Degas painted many images of dancers performing precisely that. Gaasbeek’s painting, Dancer on Pointes, presents a familiar sight found in ballet studios worldwide. The dancer is positioned in the right section of the artwork and occupies the same amount of space as fields of cool hues. The straight line that travels across the painting places the dancer in a ballet studio. The focus is on the ballerina. This ballerina may not be dancing, but the indistinct setting juxtaposed against her curved form, gently raised shoulders, and delicate physique radiates grace and a feeling of tranquillity.

In my opening remarks I wondered how the dancer inspires the visual artist. This post does not pretend to have discovered the answer. It suffices to say that dancers, regardless of their background, dance style, or beauty, are and continue to be an endless source of inspiration.

Dance Pretty Lady