Win Van Dijk (Westmass, Holland 1915 - Petrópolis RJ 1990)
Painter and draftsman.
Willem Leendert van Dijk studied art and theology in Leiden (Holland), at the Academy of Fine Arts and Leiden University. In 1935, he won a travel award abroad and visited France, Italy and Greece. During World War II, he joined the resistance against the Nazis and lost both legs on the front line. In 1947, appointed 1st Cultural Attaché by Queen Wilhelmina, he traveled to Brazil and settled in Rio de Janeiro. In 1948, his biography L'Homme, Le Peintre, L'Oeuvre, by Carlos Torres Pastorino, was published. In 1960, he published the poetry book Convite à Exposição [Invitation to the Exhibition]. In 1971, he was appointed a member of the Academia Metropolitana de Letras. In 1947, he held his first solo exhibition, at the Associação Brasileira de Imprensa, in Rio de Janeiro. In 1951, he won a gold medal at the National Artists Salon and, in 1952, a silver medal at the Brazilian Artists Salon. He exhibited in the United States, Germany, Holland, France, Denmark, Argentina and Japan. In 1966, the Harwick Collection (United States) acquired the canvas Jangadeiros em Ação [Raftsmen in Action] for its collection. In 1968, the governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Jeremias Fontes, presented President Costa e Silva with the painting Rio Piabanha - Petrópolis [Piabanha River - Petrópolis] and Queen Elizabeth II, on an official visit to Brazil, with the canvas Petrópolis em Flor [Petrópolis in Bloom]. In 1971, he became a member of the Academia Petropolitana de Letras.
Collections
Harwick Collection - Estados Unidos
Hermitage Museum - São Petersburgo (Rússia)
Critiques
"Van Dijk is classical in his choice of themes, when he uses the Bible as his inspiration. Within classical art he is an idealist, as the Greeks were. He is academic when he follows academic norms, when he creates a balanced composition of the models he uses. Within academicism we shall include the Renaissance, which was his inspiration. And in this regard, we are not afraid to place Van Dijk alongside the great masters of the Renaissance in the use of the three great characteristics of the painting of that period, for Van Dijk knows, as they knew for the first time, how to use perspective, chiaroscuro and, above all, anatomy. He is romantic, according to Raul Pedroza, for all the lyricism he manages to add to the most bucolic subjects he employs. He is realist in his themes, in the poverty brought to the canvas, in the rural landscapes that hide nothing of reality, in the weary faces of his fishermen. He is almost impressionist in his Brazilian seascapes, where he plays with color as the impressionists did, and in the white snow landscapes of his Holland".
José Maria Carneiro
CARNEIRO, José Maria. Win Van Dijk. Rio de Janeiro: RBM Editora, 1990.
Testimonials
"Yes, it was worth it... it was worth being a Painter, as long as painting has been an instrument in the service of God and Humanity. When Art is wholesome, when we do not give Humanity more problems than it already has, when we, through our work, can also help people and charitable institutions, when we, through the gift we have received, can bring joy to those who look at and are moved by our paintings, it was worth it, it was worth it... It is a vocation, but also a great responsibility, to be a painter. That is why I sign and write, on the back of all my canvases, that they were 'made with the help of God'".
Win Van Dijk
CARNEIRO, José Maria. Win Van Dijk. Rio de Janeiro: RBM Editora, 1990.
Solo Exhibitions
1947 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at ABI
1948 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Esplanada Hotel
1948 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Palace Hotel
1948 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Solo
1948 - Rosario (Argentina) - Solo
1956 - New Jersey (United States) - Solo, at Macculloch Hall
1957 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Galeria Louvre
1959 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Petrópolis Motifs, at MNBA
1960 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Holland Sings Brazil, at MNBA
1964 - Copenhagen (Denmark) - Solo, at Museu de Copenhagen
1968 - Fort Lauderdale (United States) - Solo, at Schrarmm Galleries
1969 - Tokyo (Japan) - Solo, at Museu Nacional de Tóquio
1969 - New York (United States) - Solo, at Mary Antoville Gallery
1969 - Washington (United States) - Solo, at Van Doorn's Gallery
1969 - Los Angeles (United States) - Solo, at The Master's Gallery
1970 - San Antonio (United States) - Solo, at Glasser's Art Gallery
1972 - San Antonio (United States) - Solo, at Glasser's Art Gallery
1974 - Hartford (United States) - Solo
1975 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria de Arte Centro América
1976 - Ettlingen (Germany) - Solo, in the halls of Castelo de Ettlingen
1978 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Solo, at Kunst Museum
1978 - Baden-Baden (Germany) - Solo, at Europäischer Kulturkreis
1979 - Bonn (Germany) - Solo, at La Redoute
1980 - Bonn (Germany) - Solo
1985 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Way Galeria de Arte
1986 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Way Galeria de Arte
1987 - Petrópolis RJ - Solo, at Hotel Casablanca
1988 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Way Galeria de Arte
1989 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Retrospective, at Way Galeria de Arte
Group Exhibitions
1936 - Rotterdam (Netherlands) - Group show, at Galeria De Schakel
1938 - Paris (France) - Group show, at Galeria Royale
1938 - Paris (France) - Salon des Indépendants
1938 - Rotterdam (Netherlands) - Group show, at Museu Boymans
1948 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - National Salon of Fine Arts
1949 - Salvador BA - Bahia Fine Arts Salon
1949 - São Paulo SP - 15th São Paulo Fine Arts Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1951 - National Artists Salon - gold medal
1952 - Nova Friburgo RJ - Rio de Janeiro State Artists Salon - gold medal
1952 - Brazilian Artists Salon - silver medal
1952 - São Paulo SP - 17th São Paulo Fine Arts Salon, at Salões do Trianon
1960 - Niterói RJ - 26th Rio de Janeiro State Visual Arts Salon
1963 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - National Salon of Fine Arts - bronze medal
1965 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 4th Centenary Commemorative Exhibition, at Associação Brasileira de Imprensa, ABI - gold medal
1966 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Rio de Janeiro 4th Centenary Salon - large gold medal
1966 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Academia Brasileira de Belas Artes Salon - Victor Meirelles Gold Medal
1969 - Petrópolis RJ - Júlio Koeler Petrópolis Painting Salon
1980 - Petrópolis RJ - 1st National Watercolorists Meeting, at Palácio de Cristal - special prize
1984 - Petrópolis RJ - 4th Petrópolis Culture and Tourism Week, at Santapaula Quitandinha Clube
1984 - Petrópolis RJ - Petrópolis - Sensibility and Image
1987 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st Brazil-Holland Art Show, at ABL
Posthumous Exhibitions
1993 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian Landscapes by Foreign Artists, at Galeria de Arte Sesc Tijuca
Source: Itaú Cultural
