Rien Poortvliet

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Rien Poortvliet
NationalityDutch
Known forPainting

Rien Poortvliet (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrinˈpoːrtflit];[1] 7 August 1932 – 15 September 1995) was a Dutch artist and illustrator.[2]

Life

Born in Schiedam, Poortvliet was best known for his drawings[3] of animals and for "Gnomes", a famous series of illustrated books with text by Wil Huygen.[4]

Poortvliet did not attend art school and his family discouraged him from becoming an artist: `My family thought that artists were, you know, a little bit dangerous, all those naked women, all that drinking all night."[5] Instead, Poortvliet's father wanted him pursue a profession that would produce a stable income, so Poortvliet began a career in advertising, initially drawing scenes of families for soap companies.[6] Poortvliet took more pleasure in the work he did on the side for several publishers. He illustrated various books, among them works by Jaap ter Haar, Leonard Roggeveen [nl] and Godfried Bomans. He was also a passionate hunter, which led him to drawing various nature subjects.[citation needed]

By the end of the 1960s, Poortvliet was able to make a living as an independent illustrator. To supplement his income, he made a book out of his

Jesus Christ.[citation needed
]

For years his works were published by Van Holkema en Warendorf in Bussum, where his "Leven en werken van de Kabouter" (co-authored by Wil Huygen, English title is "Gnomes") went through 59 printings. With the Gnomes series, Poortvliet acquired international fame. This series took on a life of its own, and was turned into an animated series in 1985.[7]

His books have been translated into English, French, German, Swedish, Finnish, Spanish, Italian and other languages.

The Rien Poortvliet Museum is on the island of Tiengemeten in The Netherlands.[8]

Poortvliet found recognition when Prince Bernhard opened the Rien Poortvliet Museum in 1992. This museum stood in the old, historic Town Hall of Middelharnis, "Fortunately far away from the modern art gang in Amsterdam" as Poortvliet said in an interview.[citation needed]

Rien Poortvliet died in

Soest in 1995 of bone cancer at the age of 63. He was survived by his wife Corrie Bouman and their two sons.[citation needed
]

Works

References

  1. ^ In isolation, Rien is pronounced [ˈrin].
  2. ^ "Discover watercolorist, author, illustrator Rien Poortvliet". rkd.nl. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Rien Poortvliet - Google Search". google.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2002.
  4. .
  5. . Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  6. . Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  7. ^ O'Connor, John J. (11 November 1980). "TV: Animated 'Gnomes'and Saturn Rendezvous". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
  8. ^ "Home". rienpoortvlietmuseum.nl. Retrieved 10 December 2022.

External links