Wietske van Leeuwen (born 22 September 1965 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 ...

) is a Dutch

ceramist Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. Whil ...

, who lives and works in

Monnickendam Monnickendam () is a city in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Waterland, and lies on the coast of the Markermeer, about southeast of Purmerend. It received city rights in 1355 and was damaged by the fires ...

. Her works are constructed in a baroque style, with shells and fruit as recurring motifs."Galerie Carla Koch; Wietske van Leeuwen," at studiopottery.co.uk, 2008-17

Biography

Born in Rotterdam to Sjoerd and Marianne van Leeuwen, Van Leeuwen grew up in

Mijnsheerenland Mijnsheerenland is a village and a former municipality on the Hoeksche Waard island in the Dutch province of South Holland with 4,435 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2006). It is located on the shores of the ''Binnenbedijkte Maas'' (Lake Binnenmaas), ...

. Her father ran a timber trading company in

Overschie Overschie is a neighborhood of Rotterdam, Netherlands, formerly a separate village with its own municipality. The village of Overschie was located on the intersection of four rivers called "Schie": the Delftsche Schie, Schiedamsche Schie, Delfs ...

, and her uncle is the photographer Piet van Leeuwen (born 1942). She studied handicrafts and textile art at the teacher training college in Delft from 1984 to 1989, and ceramic design at the

Gerrit Rietveld Academy The Gerrit Rietveld Academie, also known as Rietveld School of Art & Design and Rietveld Academy, is an art academy in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The academy was founded in 1924 and offers programs in fine arts and design. History In 1924, the In ...

in Amsterdam from 1989 to 1993 under Jan van der Vaart, and

Henk Trumpie Henk Trumpie (born The Hague, 8 August 1937) was a Dutch ceramist and sculptor. Life and work Born in The Hague, Trumpie studied at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, and took glaze lessons at the Porceleyne Fles pottery in Delft, where he ...

. After graduation she settled in Amsterdam as an independent artist and started her own studio. In 1996 Van Leeuwen was nominated by

Thimo te Duits Thimo te Duits (born 1962 in Utrecht) is a Dutch art historian, curator, author and editor, known for his numerous contributions in the field of Dutch applied art. Biography Early career in the 1980s and 1990s After his studies in art histo ...

for the NPS Cultuurprijs 1996, a battle between young unknown artists which was aired on national television."Selectie Televisie," ''NRC Handelsblad,'' 2 September 1996. Online a
retro.nrc.nl
10.2019 Van Leeuwen received a number of grants from the Mondriaan Fonds, the Dutch fund for visual art and cultural heritage. Since 1997 she is also working as a ceramics and drawing teacher at Altra College, Amsterdam.

Work

Since her early work in the 1990s Van Leeuwen has been fascinated by 17th century

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

s and cabinet of curiosities, which she translated into her work. Her pots, vases and candle holders are constructed with shapes of

seashell A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washe ...

nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...

s or

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

s consequently composes. Some of the pots held a kitchy image on the bottom. Those earlier work of art suggested an underwater world. It wanted to presented itself as something precious, as if it was a treasure found at the bottom of the deep sea.

Photo Gallery

File:Schelpenbak met diepzeesnoek.jpg, Shell bowl with deepsea pike, 1993 File:Schaal met matte bruine wand.jpg, Scale with matt brown side, 1995 File:Groene glasschaal (1997).jpg, Green glass bowl, 1997 File:Terrine met deksel (1997).jpg, Terrine with lid, 1997 File:Vaas met een rand van afgietsels van cactusvruchten.jpg, Vase with cactus fruits, 2000 File:Berenklauwpot.jpg, Bear claw pot, 2007 Van Leeuwen's work is included in the collection of the

Gemeentemuseum Den Haag The Kunstmuseum Den Haag is an art museum in The Hague in the Netherlands, founded in 1866 as the Museum voor Moderne Kunst. Later, until 1998, it was known as Haags Gemeentemuseum, and until the end of September 2019 as Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. I ...

, the

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen () is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from the two most important collectors of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. It is located at ...

in Rotterdam, and the

Princessehof Ceramics Museum The Princessehof Ceramics Museum (in Dutch: Keramiekmuseum Princessehof) is a museum of ceramics in the city of Leeuwarden in the Netherlands. The museum's name comes from one of two buildings in which it is housed: a small palace ( means ‘royal ...

Exhibitions, a selection

* 1993. ''Vijf afgestudeerden van de Rietveld-academie.''

Gallery Inart Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album * ''Gallery'' (Gr ...

Amsterdam. * 1994. ''Wietske van Leeuwen and Heike Suhre,'' gallery Sio2 in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

.Exposities Tikkeltje exotisch
" ''Limburgsch dagblad,'' Heerlen, 1994/02/02. * 1994-95. ''Marian Beek, Edzard Krol en Dirk Beintema: olieverf en Wietske van Leeuwen: keramiek'', Galerie de Vis, Harlingen.J.S.
Sprankelende schilders bij Galerie De Vis
. ''Leeuwarder courant : hoofdblad van Friesland,'' Leeuwarden, 1994/12/10. * 1995. Gallery Inart, Prinsengracht 510, Amsterdam.Cees Straus,
Kunst Louter glas en keramiek Moeder van het vaderlandse glas opent eigen galerie
" ''Trouw,'' Meppel, 1995/04/08. * 1996. ''10 jaar galerie Terra,'' Gallery Terra, Delft.Kitty Kilian,
10 jaar galerie Terra; Keramisch gezicht op Delft
" ''NRC Handelsblad,'' 23 May 1996. * 1997. Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York City, USA
at ''wietskevanleeuwen.nl,'' last updated 2018. Accessed 10.10.2019. * 2010. ''KLEIKUNST, STEENGOED! Keramiek uit Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen,''

Kunsthal The Kunsthal ( en, Art Hall) is an art museum in Rotterdam. It opened in 1992. Overview The museum is situated in the Museumpark of Rotterdam next to the Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam, and in the vicinity of the Museum Boijmans Van Beunin ...

, Rotterdam. * 2014. Biennale internationale de céramique d'art, in Vallauris, France. * 2015.

KunstRAI KunstRAI is an annual art fair for modern and contemporary art held at the RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands, every May. From 2006 to 2011 it was known as Art Amsterdam. The 2012 Art Amsterdam was to have been held at ...

, Galerie Carla Koch, Amsterdam. In the 2010 exhibit in the

a selection of the modern ceramic art collection of

was shown with works of multiple generations of Dutch ceramists. Works were shown from the beginning of the 20th century with

Chris Lanooij Johannes Christiaan "Chris" Lanooy (16 March 1881 – 24 January 1948) was a Dutch potter and designer, who worked as ceramist, painter, draftsman and sculptor, and he produced stained-glass art. Life and work Lanooy was born in Sint-Annaland i ...

(1881-1948) and

Hein Andrée Hein is a Dutch and Low German masculine given name, a short version of Hendrik/Heinrich, a derivative surname most common in Germany. Given name * Hein van Aken (c. 1250 – c. 1325), Flemish poet * Hein de Baar (born 1949), Dutch oceanogr ...

(1882-1961) and from more contemporary artists as

Johan van Loon Johan Gerard van Loon (Rotterdam, 29 October 1934 – Breda, 24 February 2020) was a Dutch ceramist and textile artist. ...

(1934), Jan van der Vaart (1931-2000),

Barbara Nanning Barbara Nanning (born January 3, 1957, The Hague, Netherlands) is a Dutch sculptor, ceramicist and glass artist. Life Nanning studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy from 1974 to 1979 under Harry op de Laak, Jan van der Vaart, and at the Rijk ...

(1957),

Geert Lap Gerardus Johannes (Geert) Lap (born Venlo, 24 December 1951- 26 April 2017 ) was a Dutch ceramist, known for his new approach to ceramics characterized as clay minimalism. Life and work Geert Lap studied at the AKV St. Joost from 1974 to 1976, ...

and Olaf Stevens. The works of Esther Stasse and Wietske van Leeuwen were their representation of the last generation."KLEIKUNST, STEENGOED! Keramiek uit Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen 24 april t/m 15 augustus 2010," webtext at ''kunsthal.nl,'' 2010.

Reception

At the Studio Pottery website the Dutch Galery Carla Koch (2008) gave the following description of the motives in the work and motivation behind the work: :''Van Leeuwen creates strikingly baroque objects, made up of many small prints of shells and fruit, which remind of the curio cabinets that were in fashion in the 17th century and admired by her. It was in vogue among the wealthy merchants of that era to collect new types of fruit and shells that were brought back by the

VOC VOC, VoC or voc may refer to: Science and technology * Open-circuit voltage (VOC), the voltage between two terminals when there is no external load connected * Variant of concern, a category used during the assessment of a new variant of a virus * ...

ships, in such cabinets. Van Leeuwen uses shells and fruit to make plaster press moulds, which are then used for producing large quantities of prints. From these prints she creates her objects, always using the pot or dish shape as a basis. Her objects are flawless both on the inside and outside, a ceramic tour de force. She uses dishes and pots with lids as her base shapes. In addition, she creates combinations of ceramic "garnitures", which were also common during the 17th century."

References

External links

*
Official website
*
Leeuwen, Wietske van
at capriolus.nl {{DEFAULTSORT:Leeuwen, Wietske van 1965 births Living people Dutch ceramists Dutch women ceramists Gerrit Rietveld Academie alumni Artists from Rotterdam