You may know Anton Pieck from his work for the Efteling fairytale forest, among others.
He became known for his romantic drawings with lively scenes and of course for his work for the Efteling fairytale forest. Dive into Anton Pieck’s winter wonderland, his and our favorite time of the year.
The winter drawings of Anton Pieck
A horse-drawn tram that passes the snow-covered Amsterdam canal houses. Skaters dancing on the ice, children throwing snowballs and cozy cookie and zopie stalls. Anyone who looks at the winter drawings of Anton Pieck (1895-1987) will spontaneously long for icy scenes in winter wonderland atmospheres. The artist loved autumn and winter more than summer and spring. And characteristic of his work are the wonderful stories they tell, which evokes a bit of nostalgia. A little retrospective: Anton Pieck was born in Den Helder on April 19, 1895, as one half of twins. Both the Pieckjes came into the world with a great creative gift and it did not take long before the brothers’ great drawing talent revealed itself. Anton was already creating works of art before he could read and write. He was three years old when his mother found him crying at the window. “I can’t draw the rain,” the little boy told her, deeply sad because he didn’t yet know how to capture the fleeting nature of the raindrops.
Own style
Although the family did not have much money, Anton and his brother Henri were allowed to take drawing lessons at the evening school of art teacher JB Mulder when they were six. He taught them the basics of drawing with perspective. Anton had his own style from a very young age, which was both romantic and nostalgic, and always contained a touch of fantasy and humor. He was only ten years old when he drew Winter View in Den Helder, a detailed work in which his later style is already clearly recognizable. A year later he won first prize at a home craft competition with a watercolor of a brown pot on an old stove. He thought the recognition for his talent was fantastic, but he was even happier with the prize he received: five tubes of paint and a fixing syringe. The Pieck brothers obtained their LO certificate at the age of fourteen and their MO certificate at the age of seventeen. Anton immediately decided to start teaching at the school he had attended. Due to his parents’ financial worries, he has always found it very important to strive for financial security, while his brother Henri was more of the flier of the family. Henri was accepted at the National Academy of Visual Arts in Amsterdam to further develop himself. The fact that Henri was seen as the artist of the family and Anton more as a bread painter frustrated him.
Would you like to read Anton Pieck’s entire story? You can read it all in the new Elegance. Now in store!
Text: Jill Waas | Image: NL Image
