Albert Muis (22 October 1914 – 24 September 1988) is a Dutch artist, wall painter, watercolourist, manufacturer of gouaches, painter, and draftsman from the Netherlands known for his contributions to drawing and painting in the 20th century. His works includes

Frescos Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

''Acardia'' (1952), ''Waterflow'' (1955), ''Theseus and Ariadne's thread'' (1958), and ''Narcissus'' (1958). His art works are known to be

Avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

. Born in Baarn, Netherlands, to a Christian family, Muis childhood was influenced by his father's encouragements as well as travels to different lands especially Italy and France. He was influenced by the paintings of Jules Breton and

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/Proto-Renaissance period. Giot ...

Life

Background and early artistry

Muis was born on 22 October 1914 to a Protestant christian family in Baarn, in the central

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, as the youngest and only boy out of three children. He became interested in painting and music around the age of seven and encouraged by his father, a

Chief Accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certif ...

of a gas factory, he took lessons in both drawing and music. After leaving secondary school in

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

, Muis faced painting while abandoning music. In 1931, he joined an art school in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, and subsequently an Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in July 1934. He studied drawing and painting until 1935, when he left for France and was influenced by the paintings of Jules Breton as welk as

in 1937, when he visited Italy's

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, Venice, and

Pompei Pompei (; nap, Pumpeje, ) or Pompeii (, as in the name of the ancient city) is a city and commune in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy, home of the ancient Roman ruins of Pompeii that are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. History ...

. He also took Monumental Art tutorials and thus, became specialized in wall painting from that year until 1938.

Exhibition and breakthrough

Muis completed his first

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

painting, a state commission for the Dutch Pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris. In 1939, he worked with architects for the Tuyen Luchtvaart Laboratorium in Amsterdam and focused on

easel painting An easel is an upright support used for displaying and/or fixing something resting upon it, at an angle of about 20° to the vertical. In particular, easels are traditionally used by painters to support a painting while they work on it, normally ...

in his studio in

Amstel The Amstel () is a river in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It flows from the Aarkanaal and Drecht in Nieuwveen northwards, passing Uithoorn, Amstelveen, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, to the IJ in Amsterdam. Annually, the riv ...

, Amsterdam. He made his first exhibition in Amsterdam (

gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouache h ...

, oil on wood) at Galerie Robert, Amsterdam in May 1940. After two years, he participated in an exhibition of young avant-garde painters in Amsterdam, a demonstration which was forcibly condemned by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

. He exhibited in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, Netherlands, in 1946 and 1947 at Galerie De Boer. He participated in the 1948 group exhibition in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

and in the same year, painted three frescoes entitled "The Mourners". The painting was in the entrance hall of the Oosterbegraafplaats, a cemetery in Amsterdam which was commissioned by the

municipality of Amsterdam The Government of Amsterdam consists of several territorial and functional forms of local and regional government. The principal form of government is the municipality of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The municipality's territory covers the city of Amster ...

. He has also participated in the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

and exhibited in Amsterdam, Groningen and

in 1949. Muis settled with his family in

Port-Vendres Port-Vendres (; ca, Portvendres) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, southwestern France. A typical Mediterranean fishing port, situated near the Spanish border on the Côte Vermeille in southwestern France, Port-Vendres is re ...

, France. In 1952, he made a wall painting for the Auditorium Oosterbegraafplaats in Amsterdam: "Arcadia" of Mediterranean-inspiration (from sketches done in Park Vilmarest in Argelès-sur-Mer). In 1955 he exhibited in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

and produced a mural painting at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...

entitled "Waterfowl". The

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

in Amsterdam acquired some of his works, including his "Palm Tree" drawing for the Rijksmuseum Prenten Cabinet and also his gouache, "Still Life with Fish", and oils on canvas. In 1956, he received a prize in painting completion by K.N.S.M., a Dutch shipping company. In 1957, he also exhibited in Gallery Bassano, France and also travelled to the Netherlands to achieve the "Four Elements", a mural painting for The Atom exhibition in Schiphol. He completed his two murals "Narcissus" in Spinoza Lyceum,Amsterdam and "Theseus and Ariadne's thread", also in Amsterdam. The two wall paintings were created from the numerous sketches he made in the Roussillon countryside, on the banks of Tech, near Arles sur Tech. Since then, Muis has exhibited his artworks in Galerie Barbizon, Paris (1960), Grand Café de Ceret (1962) and Perpignan (Salle Arago) (1961 and 1966). From 1970 to 1971, his works were also displayed in

, Italy, Gallery Paolo Vaccerino. The Cultural Center in Bellefontaine Mirail,

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, presented his works in 1972 and at the 'Salon des Indépendants' in Paris in 1973 and 1974. It was followed by "Club of Law and Economics", a artwork exhibited in 'Place des Invalides', Paris. In 1978, he had an exhibition of his works in

Singer Museum Singer Laren is a museum and concert hall located in the center of Laren, the Netherlands. The museum is devoted to presenting and preserving the collection of the American artist William Henry Singer (1868–1943) and his wife Anna (1878–1962 ...

, Laren.

Later life and death

After the war in 1946, Muis married Hanna Deppe, a swiss woman from Switzerland. They had a daughter in 1947 and a son in 1951 at

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

, after settling in France. Muis' wife Deppe died at sixty-nine in September 1982, after a long illness. Muis did not exhibit in public places any more, except in his studio. Reportedly affected by the death of his wife, his health became precarious until September 24, 1988, when he died at seventy-four in his house.

Works

Frescos * ''Les Pleureuses'' (1948) * ''Acardia'' (1952) * ''Waterflow'' (1955),

* ''Theseus and Ariadne's thread'' (1958) * ''Narcissus'' (1958)

References

External links

Architectuur

National Cultural Heritage Agency ''The Collection''
1914 births 1988 deaths People from Baarn 20th-century Dutch painters Dutch male painters 20th-century Dutch male artists {{Netherlands-painter-stub