work

the lyrical abstract work of diederen is colourful and is characterised by clear

light and space and despite the strong colours with a soft and friendly atmosphere.

often landscapes were his source of inspiration.

until 1955 he painted mostly landscapes gouaches, drawings.

they are mostly realistic landscapes of his native south limburg (nl).

after his work developed in an abstract direction, although the landscape was a great inspiration.

in particular, the by diederen much loved landscapes and the light of france have been an important source of inspiration .

constantly diederen was inspired by nature, architecture, dance and music, thus many colourful works were created .

the work of diederen also speaks a great social conscience.

topics such as terrorism and war have always had a great influence on the work of diederen.

the world war II and persecution of the jews, the war in vietnam, the oppression of the palestinians and indians, were consecutively seen in his work.

his oil paintings often had quirky dimensions and therefore were striking. He also made combinations of canvases of various sizes.

jef diederen

the painter and graphic arstist jef diederen was born on august 25, 1920 in heerlen, province of limburg (nl).

he died on march 26, 2009 in his hometown amsterdam (nl).

he was one of the 'limburg amsterdammers '. ther artist from limburg as ger lataster, lei molin, pieter defesche and pierre van soest were part of this group.

as a teacher he worked at the free academy ateliers 63 in harlem (nl), and at the art academy in den bosch (nl).

education

 

diederen studied at:

the high school of applied arts in maastricht (nl) from 1939 to 1943

the state academy of fine arts in amsterdam (nl) in 1943/1944 and, after an interruption by world war II, from 1947 to 1951

and he received the royal grant for painting in 1948 , 1949 and 1950.

exhibitions

his work has been rewarded with various art prizes and was frequently exhibited in the netherlands and beyond.

a major retrospective of his work in 1977 occurred in the stedelijk museum in amsterdam (nl), led by director mr. e.l.l. de wilde.

in 1982 a retrospective exhibition held at the museum van bommel van dam, venlo (nl) and fodor museum in amsterdam (nl).

gallery 9 presented  his works in the gallery in 2001 and together with galerie willy schoots from eindhoven (nl) in 1996 kunstrai in amsterdam (nl) .

in 2010 (exactly one year after his death in 2009) as a hommage to diederen gallery 9 dedicated a solo exhibition of his paintings and graphic work in the gallery.

in 2010, gallery 9 also presented paintings of diederen at artantique art fair in the jaarbeurs utrecht in utrecht (nl).

graphic work of diederen is included in the exhibition ‘9 in 9 ' : 9 graphics artists in gallery 9 as part of the month of the graphic arts in 2013.

commissions

diederen got several commissions for wall paintings and stained glass.

collections

the work of diederen is in numerous public and private collections .

company collections

include the corporate collections of achmea art collection, ahold art foundation, fund art collection of the rabo real estate group, dsm art collection, fontys art collection, art collection kpn, tnt art collection, art collection vno-ncw.

after his death, his heirs tranferred the paintings which were still in their possession to the museum van bommel van dam in venlo (nl) .

museums

Museums with works by Diederen :

Museum van Bommel van Dam in Venlo (NL)

City Gallery Heerlen in Heerlen (NL)

Stedelijk Museum Schiedam in Schiedam (NL)

Museum of Contemporary Art ( SMAK ) in Ghent (B)

publications

ezel mijn bewoner / bert schierbeek and jef diederen; ed. adri colpaart, erik slagter

2000

p., ills,

language: dutch

isbn 9066571217

jef diederen: het grafisch oeuvre 1950-2000 / jef diederen, ulcu mes & ingrid kentgens

galerie willy schoots,1991

159 p.,  ills., hardcover

language: dutch

isbn 9073998115

jef diederen / ulco mes, ingrid kentgens

144 p.,  ills., hardcover

language: dutch

isbn 9076014019