Anton Franciscus Pieck (19 April 1895 – 24 November 1987) was a Dutch painter, artist and graphic artist. His works are noted for their nostalgic or

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

-like character and are widely popular, appearing regularly on cards and calendars. He is also known for being the first designer of the famous Dutch theme park

Efteling Efteling () is a fantasy-themed amusement park in Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands. The attractions reflect elements from ancient European myths and legends, fairy tales, fables, and folklore. The park was opened on May 31, 1952. It evolved from a ...

Biography

Anton Franciscus Pieck was born on 19 April 1895 in

Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO fe ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. He was the son of Henri Christiaan Pieck and Petronella Neijfs, and twin brother of the painter and illustrator Henri Christiaan Pieck. Pieck married Jo van Poelvoorde (died 1983) in 1922. The couple had three children, Elsa, Anneke and Max (died 1986). Between 1912 and 1920 Pieck was an art teacher at the Bik en Vaandrager Institute in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. He took the same job at the Kennemer Lyceum in Overveen, where he worked until 1960. From the 1920s on he became well known for his book illustrations, which among others were published in the Dutch children's magazine ''Zonneschijn''. Some of these were presented in a

text comics Text comics or a text comic is a form of comics where the stories are told in Cartoon caption, captions below the images and without the use of speech balloons. It is the oldest form of comics and was especially dominant in European comics from t ...

format. His most famous book illustrations were ''

Grimm's Fairy Tales ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (, , commonly abbreviated as ''KHM''), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, Jacob Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm, first publish ...

'' and ''

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...

''. Pieck was furthermore a painter of nostalgic 19th century city scenes and winter scenes, which are still popular to this day as images on greeting cards and calendars.

Efteling

From 1952 to 1974, Pieck was responsible for designing almost everything for fairy-tale park

in Kaatsheuvel, now one of the major theme parks in Europe. His work for the Efteling has been of huge importance for the future of the park, since almost all later designers used his graphic characteristics in their designs (such as materials, colors and shapes).

Anton Pieck Museum

In 1984 the Anton Pieck Museum was opened at the Achterstraat in Hattem. The museum is called "Huis voor Anton Pieck" ("House for Anton Pieck"). It exhibits various art works by Pieck.

Trivia

* In the comic Spike and Suzy, the characters visit De Efteling three times, in ''De Efteling-elfjes'', in ''Fata Morgana'' and in ''De belhamel-bende''. In this last comic, Pieck has a cameo role when Lambik is called by someone who knows where

Tante Sidonia Tante Sidonia is a Flemish comics character from the Belgian comics series ''Suske en Wiske''. In the franchise she is the aunt of Wiske and the adoptive aunt of Suske, of whom she both takes care. In the original Flemish publications her name wa ...

is. * Dutch poet and singer Drs. P wrote a song, "Winterdorp," as a homage to Pieck's cosy drawing style. * In a 2004 poll regarding De Grootste Nederlander (The Greatest Dutchman), the general public placed Pieck in 81st place. * Pieck illustrated the Dutch version of the book The Wonderful Adventures of Nils ( Nils Holgersson). * In Kaatsheuvel a LOM school has been named after Anton Pieck. * In 1972 he designed the

classic car A classic car is typically described as an automobile 25 years or older, although a car's age is not the only requirement it must meet before being considered a "classic." However, a standard criteria for recognizing cars as classics does not ex ...

museum "Autotron" in

Drunen Drunen is a town in the municipality of Heusden in southern Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is ...

. After the museum collection relocated to Rosmalen, the building has been used as a cultural centre housing a broad range of activities, including theatre, restaurants, music school, and club house for the elderly. The building's name was changed to "De Voorste Venne".

References

External links

The Anton Pieck Museum in Hattem

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pieck, Anton 20th-century Dutch painters Dutch children's book illustrators Dutch graphic artists Dutch graphic designers Dutch comics artists Dutch fantasy artists 1895 births 1987 deaths Efteling Illustrators of fairy tales People from Den Helder Painters from North Holland Dutch male painters Dutch magazine illustrators 20th-century Dutch male artists 20th-century Dutch engravers Dutch twins 20th-century Dutch illustrators Dutch art educators