Work

Image from a war torn Amsterdam.

Constant lived along Sarphatipark with his partner Matie van Domselaer during the Second World War. The park was then called 'Bollandpark,' as during the German occupation street names and other public places named after Jewish people were renamed. Today it has its original name back.

During the war, artists were required to register with the Reich Chamber of Culture to be allowed to continue their practice. Constant did not register and would therefore hide in the crawl space under their house when danger approached.

After the Second World War, Constant starts to experiment with a cubist painting style. Of the two founders of cubism, Picasso and Braque, Constant feels more akin with the latter. It is often said that the cubist work of Braque maintains a sense of balance and harmony while Picasso strived for disruption in his art. This still life is indeed a fine example from Constant's body of work of a balanced harmony of shapes, as seen in Braque's cubism. For another example, see Portret van Matie [II], 1946.