Agnes Catharina Canta (14 November 1888 – 8 August 1964) was a Dutch

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

, best known for poster design. Canta was a granddaughter of painter Johannes Canta. She took art lessons in Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in Rotterdam. She first painted landscapes and still-lives, but eventually switched to designing posters and book covers, as well as to murals. She had her first personal exhibition in 1926. In the beginning of the 1930s, Canta designed many posters, in particular, for the

Nederlandse Spoorwegen (, , NS ) is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The rail infrastructure is maintained by network manager ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003. Freight operato ...

(1931) and for the

Jaarbeurs The Jaarbeurs (; Dutch for 'Yearly Fair') is an exhibition and convention centre in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Noted events include the former Space '86, the Hobby Computer Club Days (''HCC Dagen''), and the Mega Record & CD Fair. The venue use ...

(since 1932). Specifically, her September 1933 poster for the Jaarbeurs, inspired by

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a woodblock print by Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist Hokusai, created in late 1831 during the Edo period of Japanese history. The print depicts three boats moving through a storm-tossed sea, with a large, cresting wave forming a spiral in t ...

Hokusai , known mononymously as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. His woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock print series ''Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'' includes the iconic print ''The Gr ...

, was considered to be very successful. Before WWII, Canta was the only woman who designed posters for the Nederlandse Spoorwegen. Canta also took part in the creation of the Dutch pavilion at the

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

in Antwerp in 1930. Her work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

. Canta stayed in Rotterdam during the German occupation. Agnes Canta died in 1964 in her apartment which was next to her atelier at Jan Kruijffstraat in

Delfshaven Delfshaven () is a borough of Rotterdam, Netherlands, on the right bank of river Nieuwe Maas. It was a separate municipality until 1886. The town of Delfshaven grew around the port of the city of Delft. Delft itself was not located on a major ri ...

, living alone. In 1992, a street in Rotterdam, Agnes Cantastraat, was named after Canta.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canta, Agnes 1888 births 1964 deaths 20th-century Dutch painters Art competitors at the 1932 Summer Olympics Painters from Rotterdam 20th-century Dutch women 20th-century Dutch women painters Willem de Kooning Academy alumni