Paul Citroen

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Paul Citroen
Metropolis by Paul Citroen
Born	15 December 1896 Berlin, Germany
Died	13 March 1983 Wassenaar, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Works	Metropolis, postage stamps

Roelof Paul Citroen (December 15, 1896 – March 13, 1983) was a German-born Dutch artist, art educator and co-founder of the New Art Academy in Amsterdam. Among his best known works are the photo-montage Metropolis and the 1949 Dutch postage stamps.

Biography

Early life

Citroen was born and grew up in a middle-class family in Berlin. Both his parents were Dutch Jews.^[1] His father owned a fur shop. At an early age, Citroen began drawing, provoking strong support from his parents. He soon started to experiment with photography with Erwin Blumenfeld and studied art in Berlin.

In 1919 Citroen began studying at the Bauhaus, where he started taking lessons from Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky (part of Der Blaue Reiter) and Johannes Itten, who became one of his biggest influences. Around this time, he started Metropolis (1923), which became his best known piece. Citroen's Metropolis influenced Fritz Lang to make his classic film Metropolis. Between 1929 and 1935, Citroen made many photographs, clearly influenced by his work with Blumenfeld.

Later life

He soon started up the Nieuwe Kunstschool (New Art School) with Charles Roelofsz. It ran out of money and closed down in 1937. That year, Citroen became a scholar at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. Among his many students are Kees Bol,^[2] Madeleine Gans,^[2] Henk Hartog,^[2] and Jos Zeegers.^[2] He designed his monumental postage stamps in 1949. In 1960 he stopped teaching and started painting portraits as his main focus. He painted portraits of famous Dutch people, including a well-known portrait of Liesbeth List in 1979.

Paul Citroen died in 1983 in Wassenaar.

References

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 108360371 LCCN: n79113897 ISNI: 0000 0001 0804 6132 GND: 118520873 SUDOC: 076707296 BNF: cb13510695t ULAN: 500014484 NLA: 35842717

Persondata
Name	Citroen, Paul
Alternative names
Short description	Dutch painter
Date of birth	15 December 1896
Place of birth	Berlin, Germany
Date of death	13 March 1983
Place of death	Wassenaar, Netherlands

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