Maarten Krabbé
Encyclopedia
Maarten Krabbé was a Dutch
painter
and art educator.
Krabbé grew up in Het Gooi, where he intensively enjoyed the surrounding nature. This will manifest itself in his art work later on in life. In 1913 he moved with his family to Bussum and in 1922 to Zandvoort.
After three years in high school (HBS) in Haarlem, his father gave him his blessing to become a painter. He then enrolled at the National Academy for the Visual Arts (Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunsten) in Amsterdam
(1926–1930).
He married Margreet Reiss, a writer and translator. They had two sons: Tim Krabbé
(author) and Jeroen Krabbé
(actor, director and painter). In the mid 1950’s they were divorced and in 1959 he married again, this time with Helena Verschuur. They had a son: Mirko Krabbé (designer and painter).
In his youth Krabbé studied the ‘Face Book’ (Gelatenboek) by Petrus Camper
(1780) and finds his inspiration as a painter in Cubism
, children’s drawings, Joseph René Gockinga (1893–1962) and Aubrey Beardsley
. Still quite young he discovers the experimental ‘automatic drawing’; finding shapes in accidental lines. He is also very sensitive to the power of the word and corresponds with writers and poets; a.o. Frederik van Eeden
, Dulac
, Dr. Paul Gachet
(physician of Vincent van Gogh
), Carmiggelt and colleague painter Melle.
As a more mature artist one can see in his work how he explores styles and compositions of well-known colleagues in order to find out what makes them so special. We see works (paintings, etchings, drawings, gouaches) in the styles of, among others, Cézanne, Matisse, Géricault, Picasso, Doré
, Vuillard and Klee
, but always in his own stroke and with the liveliness that characterizes all of his work. Like his father he paints portraits by commission, among which is one of family members of Vincent van Gogh
. In the war years of 1940 -1945, the now famous series of etchings is created on the subject of Don Quichote of Cervantes
. After the war, these 18 etchings find their way to the Museo Casa Natal de Cervantes http://www.museo-casa-natal-cervantes.org (Spain) and just before his death eight masterly oil paintings on the same subject go to the same museum. In 1949 his drawings and gouache
s for the Bible originate. In the 1970s he paints a series of 72 gouaches on themes from A Thousand and One Nights. His later paintings, such as the ‘Gardens’ breathe a very personal atmosphere with a power of color and optimism more likely to be associated with a younger painter.
Maarten Krabbé developed into an important art educator, an innovator of drawing education for children. His thesis was that one should take the children’s own poetry as point of departure. By way of exploring techniques as an adventure and with his own poetic stories he created an unlimited space of fantasy for children from which they could create. For example: “There are trees that dream of undertaking faraway journeys. Therefore they stand very straight and tall, hoping they will be selected to be the mast of a ship. On the other hand there are trees that are thoroughly content with the little plot of land they grow on. They bend and bow in every direction to see as much as possible of what happens on their little plot. They are bent and gnarled. Other trees look like they are shouting;” Hooray . They stretch their arms up to the sun, the clouds and the heavens…”
He writes many publications on art education for children in elementary school and high school, as well as for students of the Teachers Colleges. His lectures throughout the Netherlands generated great enthusiasm because of his open, creative approach concerning art and children. Amongst others, he taught at the Kohnstamm School and the Adult Education Centre of Amsterdam. In the mid 1950’s Krabbé had a TV programme in which he taught children how to draw. Filmmaker Louis van Gasteren
uses Maarten Krabbé’s works on Don Quichote (in 2008) and poet Frank Starik writes a poem at his passing away.
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and art educator.
Life
Maarten Krabbé is the son of painter Hendrik Maarten Krabbé (1868–1931) and singer Miep Rust (1874–1956). His sisters were Henny Eskens-Krabbé (Resistance fighter in World War II) and Lies van Buren-Krabbé.Krabbé grew up in Het Gooi, where he intensively enjoyed the surrounding nature. This will manifest itself in his art work later on in life. In 1913 he moved with his family to Bussum and in 1922 to Zandvoort.
After three years in high school (HBS) in Haarlem, his father gave him his blessing to become a painter. He then enrolled at the National Academy for the Visual Arts (Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunsten) in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
(1926–1930).
He married Margreet Reiss, a writer and translator. They had two sons: Tim Krabbé
Tim Krabbé
Tim Krabbé is a Dutch journalist and novelist.Krabbé was born in Amsterdam. His writing has appeared in most major periodicals in the Netherlands. He is known to Dutch readers for his novel De Renner , first published in 1978...
(author) and Jeroen Krabbé
Jeroen Krabbé
Jeroen Aart Krabbé is a Dutch actor and film director who has appeared in many Dutch and international films.-Biography:...
(actor, director and painter). In the mid 1950’s they were divorced and in 1959 he married again, this time with Helena Verschuur. They had a son: Mirko Krabbé (designer and painter).
In his youth Krabbé studied the ‘Face Book’ (Gelatenboek) by Petrus Camper
Petrus Camper
Peter, Pieter, or usually Petrus Camper was a Dutch physician, anatomist, physiologist, midwife, zoologist, anthropologist, paleontologist and a naturalist. He studied the orangutan, the rhinoceros, the skull of a whale...
(1780) and finds his inspiration as a painter in Cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
, children’s drawings, Joseph René Gockinga (1893–1962) and Aubrey Beardsley
Aubrey Beardsley
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley was an English illustrator and author. His drawings, done in black ink and influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, emphasized the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement which also included Oscar Wilde and James A....
. Still quite young he discovers the experimental ‘automatic drawing’; finding shapes in accidental lines. He is also very sensitive to the power of the word and corresponds with writers and poets; a.o. Frederik van Eeden
Frederik van Eeden
Frederik Willem van Eeden was a late 19th century and early 20th century Dutch writer and psychiatrist...
, Dulac
Dulac
-People:* Catherine Dulac, a professor for molecular biology* Edmund Dulac, French book illustrator* Germaine Dulac, French film director and early film theorist* Henri Dulac, French mathematician* Joseph Dulac , botanist...
, Dr. Paul Gachet
Paul Gachet
Paul-Ferdinand Gachet was a French physician most famous for treating the painter Vincent van Gogh during his last weeks in Auvers-sur-Oise. Gachet was a great supporter of artists and the Impressionist movement...
(physician of Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
), Carmiggelt and colleague painter Melle.
As a more mature artist one can see in his work how he explores styles and compositions of well-known colleagues in order to find out what makes them so special. We see works (paintings, etchings, drawings, gouaches) in the styles of, among others, Cézanne, Matisse, Géricault, Picasso, Doré
Dore
Dore is a village in South Yorkshire, England. The village lies on a hill above the River Sheaf, and until 1934 was part of Derbyshire, but it is now a suburb of Sheffield. It is served by Dore and Totley railway station on the Hope Valley Line...
, Vuillard and Klee
Klee
Klee , named after Paul Klee, is a German pop-band from Cologne.-Lineup 2002-2010 :* Suzie Kerstgens * Tom Deininger * Sten Servaes -Lineup 2010-present :...
, but always in his own stroke and with the liveliness that characterizes all of his work. Like his father he paints portraits by commission, among which is one of family members of Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
. In the war years of 1940 -1945, the now famous series of etchings is created on the subject of Don Quichote of Cervantes
Cervantes
-People:*Alfonso J. Cervantes , mayor of St. Louis, Missouri*Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, 16th-century man of letters*Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer*Jorge Cervantes, a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation...
. After the war, these 18 etchings find their way to the Museo Casa Natal de Cervantes http://www.museo-casa-natal-cervantes.org (Spain) and just before his death eight masterly oil paintings on the same subject go to the same museum. In 1949 his drawings and gouache
Gouache
Gouache[p], also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor...
s for the Bible originate. In the 1970s he paints a series of 72 gouaches on themes from A Thousand and One Nights. His later paintings, such as the ‘Gardens’ breathe a very personal atmosphere with a power of color and optimism more likely to be associated with a younger painter.
Maarten Krabbé developed into an important art educator, an innovator of drawing education for children. His thesis was that one should take the children’s own poetry as point of departure. By way of exploring techniques as an adventure and with his own poetic stories he created an unlimited space of fantasy for children from which they could create. For example: “There are trees that dream of undertaking faraway journeys. Therefore they stand very straight and tall, hoping they will be selected to be the mast of a ship. On the other hand there are trees that are thoroughly content with the little plot of land they grow on. They bend and bow in every direction to see as much as possible of what happens on their little plot. They are bent and gnarled. Other trees look like they are shouting;” Hooray . They stretch their arms up to the sun, the clouds and the heavens…”
He writes many publications on art education for children in elementary school and high school, as well as for students of the Teachers Colleges. His lectures throughout the Netherlands generated great enthusiasm because of his open, creative approach concerning art and children. Amongst others, he taught at the Kohnstamm School and the Adult Education Centre of Amsterdam. In the mid 1950’s Krabbé had a TV programme in which he taught children how to draw. Filmmaker Louis van Gasteren
Louis van Gasteren
Louis Alphonse van Gasteren is a Dutch director and documentary filmmaker. He is the son of the actor Louis van Gasteren Sr. and the concert-singer Elise Menagé Challa.- Biography :...
uses Maarten Krabbé’s works on Don Quichote (in 2008) and poet Frank Starik writes a poem at his passing away.
Selection of exhibitions
- Gallerie Tswin, Zwijndrecht (1968)
- De Hoogovens, IJmuiden (1968)
- Singer Museum. Laren. ‘Drie generaties Krabbé’ (1985)
- Pictura, Dordrecht (1993)
- Krakeling, Amsterdam ‘Eye Love Books’ (1997)
- Voerman Museum, Hattem, ‘Familieverbanden’ (2000)
- Museum Casa Natal de Cervantes, Alcala de Henares, Spanje (2004)
- Museum Jan van der Togt, Amstelveen (2008)
Selected collections
- Don Quichote (1947). Series of etchings (18 sheets acquired by the Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid and currently in possession of the Casa Natal de Cervantes in Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
- Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
- Joods Historisch Museum Amsterdam (Jewish Historical Museum)
- Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Den Haag (Royal Library)
Selected writings
- Education and Art, Kroniek van Kunst en Kultuur18e jaargang, no.6, 1955 (Unesco)
- Muizen en bokken houden veel van Papier (“Mice and Billy goats very much like paper”) (Proost, Amsterdam, 1955)
- Het Schema, Parnas, tijdschrift over de Vormgeving (Journal of Design) no.2 1956
- Verborgen Mogelijkheden (8 delen), uitbeeldingsmogelijkheden voor jonge handen (Sijthoff, Leiden 1961)
- Het Venster Open, (“The Open Window”) Kompasreeks, 2e serie, no. 5 (Samson, 1963)
- Beeld in, Beeld uit, Bouwstenen voor creatieve expressie en muzische vorming (“Image in, Image out” building blocks for creative expression and artistic education) Redactie P. Dijkstra (Gottmer, Haarlem 1970)
Selected illustrations
- De Artapappa’s door J.B. Schuil (1936)
- Honderd vertellingen uit de Bijbel, naverteld door Anne de Vries (“A Hundred stories from the Bible”) (Van Goor, Den Haag, 1949)
Selected publications
- Het Bevrijdende Beeld; genezende en scheppende werking der Expressie. (“The Liberating Image; the healing and creative effects of expression”) Trouw, 20 oktober 1955
- Leerlingen geven kleur en fleur aan de Rembrandtschool. (“Pupils bring color and cheer to the Rembrandt school”) Haagse Courant 15 juni 1959
- Drie generaties Krabbé. (“Three Krabbé Generations”) Bibeb en Frans Keijsper (Van Holkema & Warendorp, Weesp, 1985)
- Krabbé in Drievoud. (“Krabbé in triplicate”) Panorama 18 April 1985
- Catalogue Museo Casa Natal de Cervantes, Alcala de Henares, Spanje 2003
- De vrije expressie op school. (“Free expression in school. An obituary”) In memoriam door Maartje den Breejen. Het Parool, 26 februari 2005