Printer: S Lankhout & Co.

This advertisement for salad oil is the first important Dutch Art Nouveau poster and the most famous example of Toorop's original graphic style. These elegant female figures, with their swirling hair and flowing clothes, which fill almost the entire poster, are reminiscent of Wayang shadow puppets. The lettering and illustration combine to form a harmonious whole. Jan Toorop spent much of his youth in Java and this clearly influenced his work. This poster, produced for the Nederlandse Olie Fabrieken (Dutch Oil Factories), is the reason why this style, internationally referred to by the term ‘Art Nouveau’, was known as ‘salad-oil style’ in the Netherlands. The use of decorative lines and stylized motifs is characteristic of Art Nouveau. This style of work also has symbolic elements. The women’s hair seems to encapsulate a realm of thought that is full of fantasy and spirituality.