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LA DAME A LA LICORNE
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This is perhaps the finest allegorical portrait
of Ellen Lórien that Johfra ever painted.
Much of its imagery is derived from Lórien's own painting,
as if Johfra wished to render hommage to her as artist,
as well as inspiratrice.
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A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
(7 page article)
Accompanied by:
(5 page article)
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Ellen Lórien began life as Ellen de Jonge, born in Utrecht on the 16th of March 1924. At the age of seven, her family moved to the countryside, close to forests, sand dunes and the sea. She began expressing her interior life through water colors and pastels at a very early age.
She also spent so much time in the nearby forests that she soon started to sense a powerful contact with Nature and the earth, later describing it as ‘feeling united with all living things.’ But, that Ellen Lórien, who would eventually paint mystical images of Nature with great sensitivity, had not yet been named.
Unfortunately, her parents had other plans for the young artist. Though she wanted to attend the Academy of Fine Arts, her father insisted that she pursue a more practical course by becoming a legal secretary. Ellen de Jonge left home at the age of eighteen and began her own life.
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