Adrianus Hendrikus "Arie" “Jacques” Witjens (11 April 1881 – 7 December 1956) was a Dutch painter known for his landscapes, cityscapes and figures of his native Netherlands and Argentina, where he lived after 1920.

Early life and education

Witjens was 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 of ...

in 1881 and began to study painting aged 14. He studied at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, and privately with

August Allebé August Allebé (19 April 1838 – 10 January 1927) was an artist and teacher from the Northern Netherlands. His early paintings were in a romanticism, romantic style, but in his later work he was an exponent of realism (arts), realism and impress ...

who was professor and director of the

Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten The Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (State Academy of Fine Arts) was founded in 1870 in Amsterdam. It is a classical academy, a place where philosophers, academics and artists meet to test and exchange ideas and knowledge. The school supports ...

(State Academy of Fine Arts). In 1901 he opened his studio located near

Mauritshuis The Mauritshuis (; en, Maurice House) is an art museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The museum houses the Royal Cabinet of Paintings which consists of 854 objects, mostly Dutch Golden Age paintings. The collection contains works by Johannes Vermeer ...

and was part of the second generation of the

Hague School The Hague School is a group of artists who lived and worked in The Hague between 1860 and 1890. Their work was heavily influenced by the Realism (visual arts), realist painters of the French Barbizon school. The painters of the Hague school genera ...

. In 1912 he won the 1st prize at the Bignall Competition. During the 1910s he lived 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 ...

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

Voorburg Voorburg is a town and former municipality in the west part of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Together with Leidschendam and Stompwijk, it makes up the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. It has a population of about 39,000 people ...

, and Nieuwkoop. In 1918 he exhibited collectively in

. In 1920 he married Herta Maria Stephan and travelled to Argentina on their honeymoon. The two decided to settle in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, in Tigre for about 20 years and later in

Belgrano Belgrano may refer to: People * Joaquín Belgrano (1773–1848), an Argentine patriot * José Denis Belgrano (1844–1917), Spanish painter * Joseph Belgrano (1762–1823), Argentine military officer and politician, brother of Manuel * Manuel Belg ...

. "''Argentina was paradise to us so we stayed''", he remarked. The couple had two sons, Rolando and Hermen.

Career

Witjens was commonly addressed as "Arie" in the

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 ...

and later added “Jacques” to his name to project a more artistic image. He would sometimes use his wife's surname together with his own to sign some of his paintings. He became a successful painter and exhibited regularly in prestigious salons of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

: * 1925 Círculo Belga, Buenos Aires, collective exhibition. * 1928 Galeria Neuman, Buenos Aires. * 1931 Galería Clayton, Buenos Aires. * 1932 to 1936, 1944, 1945, 1947 to 1949 Galería Nordiska * 1940 Galería Viau, Buenos Aires. * 1941 to 1944 Galería Renom, Rosario. * 1949 Mar de Plata and Tandill rooms of San Fernando, Buenos Aires. * 1958 Ateneo Esteban Echeverría of San Fernando, a retrospective. * 1962 Netherlands Embassy, Buenos Aires. * 1964 Dámaso Arce Museum, Buenos Aires. * 1988 and 1989 Colección Alvear de Zurbarán. * Several between 1985 and 2019 Zurbarán Gallery, Buenos Aires. In 1947 Witjens won the award for the best landscape of the Delta in the Salón de San Fernando, Buenos Aires. In 1948 he was appointed the best foreign painter at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, in

. He died in

in 1956.

Legacy

Witjens painted either ''plein-air'' or in his studio in Avenida Sarmiento, while listening to

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

, Haydn and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

. He produced oils,

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

s and

watercolors Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

. He was influenced by

Jacob Maris Jacob Hendricus Maris (August 25, 1837 – August 7, 1899) was a Dutch painter, who with his brothers Willem and Matthijs belonged to what has come to be known as the Hague School of painters. He was considered to be the most important and influen ...

, Hendrik Wessenbruch,

Max Liebermann Max Liebermann (20 July 1847 – 8 February 1935) was a German painter and printmaker, and one of the leading proponents of Impressionism in Germany and continental Europe. In addition to his activity as an artist, he also assembled an important ...

and

Hans Von Bartels Hans von Bartels (25 December 1856 – 5 October 1913) was a German painter. Life He was born in Hamburg, the son of Dr N. F. F. von Bartels, a Russian government official. He studied first under the marine painter R. Hardorff in Hamburg, then ...

. The paintings from his European period have abundance of greens, blues and browns, thick impasto. His Argentinian ones introduce a wider palette and much softer brushstrokes. His style remained true to his roots, giving his delicate views of

, Tigre,

Tandil Tandil is the main city of the homonymous Partidos of Buenos Aires, partido (department), located in Argentina, in the southeast of Buenos Aires Province, just north-northwest of Tandilia hills. The city was founded in 1823 and its name originate ...

, Balcarce and Córdoba a calm and airy feel. The water of the Dutch canals often flows through European towns and rural landscapes in his Argentinian creations. Witjens also did illustrations for the books of poet Mario Luis Descotte. He befriended and exhibited with other artists, such as British Stephen Robert Koekkoek, and Argentinians José Félix Rolla, Fernando Fader, Miguel Burgoa Videla, Alberto M. Rossi, and Luis Aquino. His works are part of collections in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, such as those of the

Museum de Lakenhal Museum De Lakenhal is the city museum of fine art and history in Leiden, Netherlands. One highlight is its collection of fijnschilder paintings from the Dutch Golden Age. Just like the city, the museum combines a classical appearance with a contemp ...

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 wit ...

, Museum Helmond in

Helmond Helmond (; called ''Héllemond'' in the local dialect) is a city and municipality in the Metropoolregio Eindhoven of the province of North Brabant in the Southern Netherlands. Helmond is home to several textile and metal companies. The Vlisco fa ...

, the Ushuaia Maritime Museum, the Museo de Arte Tigre, Amalia Lacroze de

Fortabat Art Collection The Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat Art Collection is a museum of fine arts in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Overview The museum was initiated by María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, the longtime chairperson and chief stockholder of Loma Negra, the largest ...

, Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, and Fundación Tres Pinos in

References

Sources

* ''Jacques Witjens, VIII Exporisión Retrospectiva'', catalogue, Zurbarán and ABN AMRO Bank, Buenos Aires, 1999. * Carlos María Pinasco: "''Jacques Witjens: El holandés sedentario''", catalogue of the 10th retrospective. Buenos Aires, 2003. *
Arte de la Argentina
'
Zurbarán Gallery

Artnet

Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat Foundation

Worldcat

RDK

Art index

NL Bio

''Grupo La Provincia'' newspaper 24 January 2021

''La Vereda'' magazine 25 January 2021

Zomerlandschap met schuit by Arie Witjens, Museum De Lakenhal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witjens, Arie Jacques 20th-century Dutch artists 20th-century Dutch painters Dutch painters 1881 births 1956 deaths Hague School Dutch emigrants to Argentina