The Curious Vision Of Anton Pieck


In 1895, in a village in The Netherlands known as Den Helder, an idiosyncratic artist was born. Much of his work…illustrations for books, theatre and even advertising, are now out of print. The interesting thing is that the internet is bringing him back.

He was a professor for most of his life, sharing his considerable skill at The Drawing Institute Of The Hague. Then in 1920, he accepted the position of drawing master at the Kennemerlyceum on Bloemendaal, where he taught until his formal retirement in 1960. Pieck died in Overeen in 1987 at the age of 92.



Although he remains famous in Holland for his color and oil work, his early charcoal drawings seem to have been largely forgotten. For some, however, it is only these which hold a haunting, lonely appeal. Many of the drawings you see here were from the years before his marriage in 1922 to Jo Van Poelvoode, before their three children were born. It seems that as his technique grew in intricacy (he is, after all, credited with the popularity of the art of decoupage, and is also the founder and designer of the fairy theme park De Efterling in Kaatsheuvel) his style devolved into a form of art which can only be tagged commercial.

Perhaps this is another case of the hackneyed tale; trying to provide for a family...an artist attempting to be embraced by a new century with new ideas. Is there someone out there who knew him who could tell us something about him? While his color work goes for big numbers to this day, his early drawings are almost unknown to the contemporary world. When I discovered him on the net, I became obsessed with these poignant drawings. The same inchoate emotions I feel when pondering ancient woodcuts or the original drawings from Alice In Wonderland. A time that perhaps never was, but still holds a wordless charisma.



When you look carefully at the drawing above, you see Anton's worn and twisted shoes by a simple makeshift fireplace. You see his kettle, drawn with a peasant eye and an elegant rendering. You delight in phantasmagorical steam whirling feverishly into what one can't help but imagine is a small, chilly room. He drew his bed, his easel, a windmill just outside. One of his biographers believes that the artist lived in a time at least one hundred years before his own birth. Yet these drawings could be nothing other than his lonely room, his own studio, the view from his narrow window. Look at his birds. Their faces almost fierce in the morning cold, yet flying among church steeples and swirling leaves. To me, these are the essential Pieck.



People in Hattem still clamor to tour his museum, and the delight his work calls up, upon even on this small screen, is palpable. In searching the web for examples of Anton Pieck's early drawings, however, I found virtually none on any of the official Pieck websites. Many are packed with his colorful, less realistic later work. Why would this be? Are Pieck's fans unaware of the book entitled Pallieter written by Felix Timmermans and introduced by Harper & Brothers Publishing in 1924? It is chock full of his most moving and simple illustrations.



How is it that these priceless drawings are showing up in the most obscure clipart sites right now? And how fortunate for us that they are...





Eve Worth
San Francisco
December 1999




Click below to see for yourself

His Life And Work

Reproductions From The Netherlands

Anton Pieck & His Drawings

The Later Pieces

An Enchanted Place

De Efteling

The Elfin Park

On The Other Hand