In de duinen

In de duinen (In the Dunes) by Jan Toorop from 1903 depicts the Dutch coastal dune landscape that he had been painting since his Symbolist years in the 1890s. Toorop was one of the most stylistically restless Dutch artists of his generation — moving through Impressionism, Symbolism, Pointillism, and eventually a Catholic mysticism that transformed his imagery — and this dune landscape belongs to his more naturalistic plein-air period following his conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1905. The Kröller-Müller Museum holds a significant collection of Toorop's work across his various stylistic phases.

Toorop applies a modified Pointillist technique to the dune landscape, building the sandy terrain and coastal vegetation through small, distinct touches of color. His palette captures the specific light quality of the Dutch coastal dunes — bleached yellows and soft greens under a pale sky. The composition uses the undulating dune forms to create rhythm across the picture surface.