John ter Linden [1872-1958]
Dutch-American
Figure Apsaras [celestial nymph], ca.1942
Oil on board
20 x 16 inches
Signed at lower left : ‘[illegibly]’.
Marking Type: Torn white rectangular label with black typewriter type.
Location: verso.
Text: ‘The Plainfield Art Association / John [torn]’.
BIOGRAPHY
John ter Linden [1872-1958] was a Dutch-American artist, designer and craftsman. ter Linden worked in oil, watercolor, charcoal, pencil, petriclay (small mosaic tile) and wood marquetry. He is known mostly for his still life, landscape and wood work.
Born in Holland, ter Linden studied design and interiors at the Academy of Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. After graduating from the Academy, he served two years in the Dutch army. In 1914, ter Linden came to America and settled in Plainfield, NJ, where he was a resident for thirty-seven years. Once in America, ter Linden owned and operated the Linden Manufacturing Company in Long Island, New York. The company was the sole supplier of wooden car interiors to the Ford and Chrysler car companies. In 1921, ter Linden married Sophie Elizabeth (Mueller) ter Linden [1887-1964] and had two sons and a daughter. By 1931, the auto industry stopped using wood car interiors forcing ter Linden to retire and focus on producing art full time.
In 1936, ter Linden painted his first oil painting. Enjoying the work he began creating art full time from his home/studio in New Jersey, often working on three or more paintings at once along with a marquetry project. He once claimed in an article that he would have to fight his fondness of old TV Westerns to focus on his work.
In 1945, one newspaper reviewer said of his still life:
“John Ter Linden, a veteran in craft and art expression, has contributed a picture so unique in technique, so vibrant in mellow sunlit color, so reminiscent of the Old Masters as to merit special commendation. He titles it, Apsaris, Sung Dynasty, 969-1279. In this painting, modest in dimensions, he shows a still life grouping of Chinese pieces—a small figure in porcelain, a vase, a bowl and a screen, all incomparably delicate in feeling and color. One cannot but envy the eventual possessor.
In ter Linden’s work the spirit of his Flemish forebears lives again. This picture is a tangible evidence that age may achieve that which youth can only aspire to attain.”
In the last years of his life, ter Linden suffered with crippled hands, barely being able to hold a brush as a result of blood poisoning. He died November 28, 1958 in New Brunswick, NJ.
CLUBS
Plainfield Art Association, Plainfield, NJ – honorary member
The Monday Afternoon Club, NJ – member
The Old Guard, Plainfield, New Jersey Chapter – member
EXHIBITIONS & AWARDS
1935 Shop 9, Bridgewater, NJ, “Marquetry”,
1938 Plainfield Art Association, Plainfield, NJ, “Member exhibition”.
1939 Monday Afternoon Club, NJ, “Member exhibition”, top honors
1939 Monday Afternoon Club, NJ, “Decorative Plaques and Marquetry by John ter Linden at the New Gallery”, November 20-30.
1940 Plainfield Art Association, Plainfield, NJ, “Member exhibition”, shown Glazed Pottery.
1942 Plainfield Art Association, Plainfield, NJ, “Member exhibition”, shown Figure Apsaras [Oriental tableau]
1944 Plainfield Art Association, Plainfield, NJ, “Member exhibition”, 1st prize for Bodhisattva (Hindu God of Water) and the Pearl Divers
1945 Plainfield Art Association, Plainfield, NJ, “Member exhibition”, shown Apsaris, Ming Dynasty, 969-1279.
1946 Plainfield Art Association, Plainfield, NJ, “Member exhibition”, shown Still Life.
1947 Plainfield Art Association, Plainfield, NJ, “Member exhibition”.
1948 Plainfield Art Association, Plainfield, NJ, “Member exhibition”, shown [tile art].
1955 Plainfield Art Association, Plainfield, NJ, “Member exhibition”, 1st prize for Breakers.
Exhibited in NY and Newark
SOURCES
The Courier-News, Bridgewater, NJ, November 29, 1958, page 8.
The Courier-News, Bridgewater, NJ, March 6, 1952, page 9.
The Courier-News, Bridgewater, NJ, March 28, 1942, page 8.