Jacobus "Co" Westerik (2 March 1924 – 10 September 2018) was a Dutch

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

Life and work

Born in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

on 2 March 1924, Westerik received his education at the

Royal Academy of Art, The Hague The Royal Academy of Art (KABK, nl, Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten) is an art and design academy in The Hague. Succeeding the ''Haagsche Teeken-Academie'' (part of the Confrerie Pictura), the academy was founded on 29 September 1682, m ...

from 1942 to 1947. After his graduation he made a study trip to the United States in 1948. After his return to the Netherlands, he settled as an independent artist in

. With the artists Herman Berserik, Jan van Heel, Willem Hussem and Jaap Nanninga he participated in the Verve group,Co Westerik; male / Netherlandish; watercolorist, etcher, photographer, gouache painter, ceramicist, lithographer, painter, draftsman, wall painter, serigrapher, academy lecturer
at rkd.nl, 2015. which they founded in 1951 and dissolved in 1957. From 1954 to 1958, Westerik was lecturer at the International School and the German International School, and from 1955 to 1958 also at the

Vrije Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten Vrije Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten (Free Academy of Visual Art) was an art school in The Hague, Netherlands. It was founded in 1947 by Livinus van de Bundt. The last remaining part of the school, GEMAK, closed on December 4, 2015, after a 75% cu ...

in The Hague. From 1958 to 1971, he was a lecturer in figure drawing at the

. Between 1960 and 1970, Westerik also lectured at

Ateliers '63 De Ateliers (formerly Ateliers '63) is an independent art school in located in Amsterdam. It was founded in Haarlem in 1963, among others by Ger Lataster, Mari Andriessen, Nic Jonk, Theo Mulder and Wessel Couzijn. This "group of established art ...

in Haarlem. In 1971, he moved to

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 ''"Ne ...

, and started a studio in the south of France, where he worked alternately until 2010. Westerik was awarded the Jacob Maris Prize three times: in 1951 and 1955 for painting and in 1953 for drawing. He also received the Rembrandt Prize of the city of

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

, the State Prize for Visual Arts and Architecture, Cultural Prize of South Holland and the

Hendrik Chabot Price The Hendrik Chabot Award (Dutch: ''Hendrik Chabot Prijs'') is an annual award for visual artists presented by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, section South Holland. The prize ceremony is in the city hall of Rotterdam, where the prize is given by T ...

of the

Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds The Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds was founded by Prince Bernhard of The Netherlands in London in 1940 during World War II in order to buy war material for the British and Dutch Governments. It continued after the war as Stichting Prins Bernhard Cultu ...

. In 1999, he was appointed Knight of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

and in 2005 an honorary member of

Pulchri Studio Pulchri Studio (Latin:"For the study of beauty") is a Dutch art society, art institution and art studio based in The Hague ('s-Gravenhage), Netherlands. This institute began in 1847 at the home of painter Lambertus Hardenberg. Since 1893 the c ...

. Westerik died on 10 September 2018 in Rotterdam at the age of 94.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westerik, Jacobus 1924 births 2018 deaths Dutch painters Dutch male painters Royal Academy of Art, The Hague alumni Academic staff of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Artists from The Hague