About the artist

Jan Rijlaarsdam (1911, Nieuwkoop – 2007, Hilversum). He started painting as a young man. As a boy of 15 years he painted high houses an weathered walls in the centre of Amsterdam. After attending the Amsterdam Academy of Art he worked and lived for many years in Hilversum. He was a member of the Hilversumse Schildersvereniging, of Sint Lucas Amsterdam, and later of the Gooise Schildersvereniging . At the beginning of the 1930s Rijlaarsdam spent much time in Antwerp and Bruges. In the 1950s he visited Paris. The buildings and street life, the fringes of society in Paris were of particular interest to him. The work of painters of the École de Paris, such as De Stael and Poliakoff inspired him to paint with a palette knife, which is one of the characteristics of his style. In addition, following the tradition of the École de Paris of the 1960's, Rijlaarsdam used subdued colours with stunning black and white contrasts in his paintings. His style is impressionistic, expressionistic and sometimes verges on abract. Paintings by him are in the Singer Museum in Laren.
All artworks