Jacobus "Co" Westerik (2 March 1924 – 10 September 2018) was a Dutch
visual artist.
Life and work
Born in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...
on 2 March 1924, Westerik received his education at the
Royal Academy of Art, The Hague from 1942 to 1947. After his graduation he made a study trip to the United States in 1948. After his return to the Netherlands, he settled as an independent artist in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...
. With the artists
Herman Berserik, Jan van Heel, Willem Hussem and Jaap Nanninga he participated in the
Verve group
The New Hague School (Dutch Nieuwe Haagse School) was a movement in the Dutch fine arts of the 1950s and 60s. It opposed the Cobra avant-garde movement and found its inspiration in 17th-century art and the experiences of the Barbizon School ...
,
[Co Westerik; male / Netherlandish; watercolorist, etcher, photographer, gouache painter, ceramicist, lithographer, painter, draftsman, wall painter, serigrapher, academy lecturer](_blank)
at rkd.nl, 2015. which they founded in 1951 and dissolved in 1957.
From 1954 to 1958, Westerik was lecturer at the International School and the
German International School, and from 1955 to 1958 also at the
Vrije Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten Vrije Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten (Free Academy of Visual Art) was an art school in The Hague, Netherlands. It was founded in 1947 by Livinus van de Bundt. The last remaining part of the school, GEMAK, closed on December 4, 2015, after a 75% cu ...
in The Hague. From 1958 to 1971, he was a lecturer in figure drawing at the
Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. Between 1960 and 1970, Westerik also lectured at
Ateliers '63 in
Haarlem. In 1971, he moved to
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
, and started a studio in the south of France, where he worked alternately until 2010.
Westerik was awarded the Jacob Maris Prize three times: in 1951 and 1955 for painting and in 1953 for drawing. He also received the Rembrandt Prize of the city of
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...
, the State Prize for Visual Arts and Architecture, Cultural Prize of South Holland and the
Hendrik Chabot Price of the
Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.
In 1999, he was appointed Knight of the
Order of the Netherlands Lion
The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...
and in 2005 an honorary member of
Pulchri Studio.
Westerik died on 10 September 2018 in Rotterdam at the age of 94.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westerik, Jacobus
1924 births
2018 deaths
Dutch painters
Dutch male painters
Royal Academy of Art, The Hague alumni
Academic staff of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague
Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Artists from The Hague