Henri Ritzen (21 May 1892 – 8 April 1976) was a Dutch painter. He is chiefly known for painting landscapes and religious scenes.

Biography

Ritzen took lessons at the ''School voor Beeldende Kunsten'' in

Roermond Roermond (; or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received City rights i ...

and at the ''Middelbare Kunstnijverheidsschool'' (successor of the ''Stadsteekeninstituut'') in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

. His teachers were Jos Postmes and Henri Jonas. Ritzen made his debut in 1933 by exhibiting his work in his hometown of

Schinnen Schinnen (; ) is a village and a former Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the Netherlands. It was home to United States Army, US Army Garrison Schinnen, a support base for People fr ...

. He also exhibited at group exhibitions organized by the '' Limburgse Kunstkring'' in the Stedelijk Museum in Maastricht. In 1939–1940, three works by Ritzen were exhibited at ''

Onze Kunst van Heden Onze Kunst van Heden (Contemporary Artists/Our Art of Today) was an exhibition held in the winter of 1939 through 1940 at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Due to the threat of invasion in the years leading up to World War II, the Netherlands' g ...

'' exhibition in the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. Following this exhibition, two of his works were selected for an exhibition in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. Ritzen seems to have had his peak in the period before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His paintings from that period symbolize

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

's popular feeling and religiosity. In the period after the war he had various exhibitions in Limburg that also attracted local attention. Ritzen was not a full-time painter, he was also an art teacher at an evening vocational technical school in

Sittard Sittard (; ) is a city in the Netherlands, situated in the southernmost province of Limburg. The town is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen and has almost 37,500 inhabitants in 2016. In its east, Sittard borders the German municipal ...

for many years and a local entrepreneur. He was also active in the local cultural community and volunteer within the church. At a later age he developed more as a modern abstract painter in which large areas of color were placed hard against each other. In 1972, Ritzen became the first person to be named an honorary citizen of the municipality of Schinnen. In 2001 Ritzen was commemorated with an exhibition in Schinnen and a monograph was published about him.

Works

Image:Henri Ritzen 1938 View over Vaesrade.jpg, ''View over Vaesrade'', 1938

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritzen, Henri 1892 births 1976 deaths Dutch male painters People from Schinnen