Jan Nieuwenhuys
| Jan Nieuwenhuys | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 8, 1922 Amsterdam |
| Died | December 28, 1986 (aged 64) Amsterdam |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | CoBrA |
Jan Nieuwenhuys (January 8, 1922 – December 28, 1986) was a Dutch painter and one of the early active founders of the Dutch Experimentalists group (Reflex) that later became part of CoBrA.
Nieuwenhuys was born in Amsterdam.
Around the age of 14, Nieuwenhuys and his two-year older brother decided to become painters. From 1938 to 1941 he attended the Rijksnormaalschool in Amsterdam. Later in the Second World War he also took lessons at the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam. At the Rijksacademie he met Karel Appel and Corneille.
During World War II Nieuwenhuys painted almost only clowns, nudes and couples making love. Just after the war he started painting fantasy animals like aggressive cocks, cats and bulls. He and his brother Constant had many arguments about his paintings. During the war Constant himself painted only Catholic scenes like Pietà and Maria portraits or still lifes and thought that Nieuwenhuys chose his subjects too lightly.
In 1948 Appel, Elburg, Kouwenaar, Wolvekamp, Corneille, Constant Nieuwenhuys, Brands, Rooskens and Nieuwenhuys founded the Experimentele Groep in Holland that a few months later became the European group CoBrA. Jan was in his paintings of this period influenced by dreams, children's drawings, the artistic expressions of mentally handicapped people and primitive art. Animals such as birds and cats play a leading role in most of his works, along with fantastic creatures and beings that are made up of a combination of human, animal and mechanical elements. A lot of the creatures balance on a rope or wear boats as a hat.
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