Ans Wortel

Ans Wortel
Born Anna Maria Wortel
(1929-10-18)18 October 1929
Alkmaar, Netherlands
Died 4 December 1996(1996-12-04) (aged 67)
Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands
Nationality Dutch
Known for Painting, drawing, printmaking, poetry, writing, sculpting, glass art
Awards First prize at the biennale of Paris in 1963

Ans (Anna Maria) Wortel (18 October 1929, in Alkmaar, Netherlands – 4 December 1996, in Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands) was a Dutch painter, poet and writer.[1] She made gouaches and oil paintings, aquarelles, drawings, collages, lithographs, etchings, sculptures and glass sculptures. She was an autodidact and has won the first prize at the biennale of Paris in 1963. She was one of the leading female artists of postwar Dutch modern art.[2]

Work and style

Wortel’s work is strongly autobiographical. Her experiences as a girl, woman, mother and as an artist were mainly the source of her inspiration. Common themes are human emotions, love, relationships, mother/child relations and social criticism.

Up until the late 1950s there was a search for a personal style. Artwork from that time varies and shows characteristics of different artists, such as Katsushika Hokusai, Willem de Kooning, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Wifredo Lam and Karel Appel. In the late 1950s her artistic style eventually flows into her very own style which is best described as abstract figurative art. It often consists of naked woman, man or child figures, sometimes recognizable, but always deformed. These human figures are together, search each other, embrace each other or repel each other. The figures are in unspecified spaces. The moon, the sun and the contours of earth often recur in her work. Mostly her work is accompanied by handwritten poetical lines.

Selected exhibitions

Wortel has had numerous exhibitions in the Netherlands and abroad,[3] amongst others:

There were also expositions and contributions of Wortel at various events, such as (selection):

Selected literature

There are some 50 books and booklets with contributions from or about Wortel.

She wrote several Dutch collections of poetry in which her visual art and her poetry come together.[7] [8]

In 1980 she started her autobiography which was finilized in 1986 (5 volumes in Dutch).

Notes

  1. ↑ Biography Portal of the Netherlands
  2. ↑ Winkler Prins Encyclopedia (1988, Elsevier, ISBN 90 1002 3249)
  3. ↑ Ans Wortel, B. Hiltermann and M. de Geus, Warmenhuizen, ISBN 978 94 6190 093 7)
  4. ↑ Daily newspaper De Tijd - Maasbode, januari 4 1960, 115th year No. 37371
  5. ↑ Opening Ans Wortel exhibition 2013 Museum Jan van der Togt, Amstelveen, Netherlands on YouTube
  6. ↑ Theater encyclopedia on: 'Laat dat' (in English "Drop it"), debut on September 7, 1969
  7. ↑ Netherlands Institute for Art History
  8. ↑ National library of the Netherlands or Royal Library
  9. ↑ Ans Wortel, B. Hiltermann en M. de Geus, Warmenhuizen, ISBN 978-94-6190-093-7)
  10. ↑ Library Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
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