Sonja Landweer (20 April 1933 – 15 December 2019) was a Dutch multi-disciplinary artist, who lived and worked in Ireland for much of her life. Initially a ceramicist, she later also became known for her bronze castings with unique patinations and subtle forms, and painted, and made prints, jewellery and pottery.Peppercanister Gallery. "," at ''peppercanister.com.'' Accessed 16.05.2015.

Life and work

Landweer was born in Amsterdam, the eldest child of three; her parents were German artist and teacher, Erna Benter-Landweer, and Dutch registrar of births and deaths, Pieter Landweer. She studied ceramics at the

Gerrit Rietveld Academie The Gerrit Rietveld Academie, also known as Rietveld School of Art & Design and Rietveld Academy, is an art academy in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was founded in 1924 and offers programs in fine arts and design. History The Instituut voor Kuns ...

in the early 1950s, and started her own art studio in 1954. In 1962 she took part in an exhibition of six young ceramists from Amsterdam in

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen () is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from its two most important donors, Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. The museum is located a ...

, together with

Hans de Jong Hans de Jong (26 March 1932 – 3 March 2011) was a Dutch sculptor, designer and ceramist. Life and work Born in Leiden, De Jong received his first lessons in pottery in the studio of Gerrit de Blanken (1894–1961) in Zoeterwoude in 1948. He ...

, Jan de Rooden, Johan van Loon, Jan van der Vaart and Johnny Rolf, which signified the rebirth of artisan ceramics in the Netherlands. Mienke Simon Thomas (2008). ''Goed in vorm: honderd jaar ontwerpen in Nederland.'' p. 188 In 1965, she was invited to move to Ireland to revitalise Irish craft and design as part of a group of international artists. Having moved, she met Barrie Cooke. They lived at The Island, Thomastown, which later became Grennan Mill Art School, and later Jerpoint Abbey. They had one child, Aoine, in 1966. Landweer remained a resident of Ireland for the rest of her life, with the exception of a two-year medical residence in the UK. Landweer and Cooke separated in the 1980s but remained friends and supporters of each other's arts. She was artist-in-residence at the

Kilkenny Design Workshops The Kilkenny Design Workshops (KDW) were a government-funded research and development centre of excellence for design (and design advocacy, research and promotion) which was established in Ireland in 1963. It was created to inspire, support and d ...

, and a teacher. While in Kilkenny, she came into contact with

Lance Clark Lancelot Pease Clark (30 April 1936 – 27 February 2018), was an English shoemaker, businessman, and member of the Clark family, which is the majority owner of shoe retailer Clarks which they had founded in the 1820s. Career Clark was born i ...

of C. & J. Clark, and inspired him to develop his Desert Trek shoe design. In 1981 she was elected to membership of the national arts academy,

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association or academy of artists, each of whom must have produced a distinguished body of work of genuine originality. It was created in 1981 by the country's Arts Council on the initiati ...

. She continued drawing, painting, print-making, working in bronze, and making jewellery and pottery.

Recognition

Landweer was awarded the Verzetsprijs in Holland in 1964; the prix artistique at the Biennale Internationale de Ceramique d’Art, Vallauris, France in 1974 and the 1992 honorary award from NCAD.

Work in public collections

The work of Landweer is held in several public collections worldwide, a selection: *

Frans Hals Museum The Frans Hals Museum (formerly ''Stedelijk Museum van Haarlem'') is a museum in the North Holland city of Haarlem, the Netherlands, founded in 1862, known as the Art Museum of Haarlem. Its collection is based on the city's own rich collection, b ...

, Haarlem *

Princessehof Ceramics Museum The Princessehof Ceramics Museum (in Dutch: Keramiekmuseum Princessehof) is a museum of ceramics in the city of Leeuwarden in the Netherlands. The museum's name comes from one of two buildings in which it is housed: a small palace ( means ‘roya ...

* Hildesheim Stadtisches Museum, Germany * Museum of Decorative Arts, Copenhagen *

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasures ...

References

External links

* , biography.
Sonja Landweer
jewelry. {{DEFAULTSORT:Landweer, Sonja 1933 births Dutch women ceramists Dutch people of German descent Artists from Amsterdam Gerrit Rietveld Academie alumni Aosdána members 2019 deaths

Life and work

Recognition

Work in public collections

References

Further reading

External links