Leo Gestel

Leo ( Leendert ) Gestel ( born November 22, 1881 in Woerden, † November 26, 1941 in Hilversum ) was a Dutch painter of Impressionism, Pointillism, Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism and Expressionism. He also worked as a fresco painter, illustrator and lithographer.

Life

The Early Years

Leendert Gestel received his first drawing lessons from his father Willem Gestel, a painter and director of the Woerdense Avondteekenschool, and was also by his uncle dimming Gestel, a printer and painter, who with Vincent van Gogh painted outdoors informed. Before Leo Gestel was a painter, he designed for his uncle commercials and he illustrated newspapers and books. Gestel taught as an art teacher at the " Rijksnormaalschool " and later, from 1900 to 1903, evening classes of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam. In 1912, he was excited by a Futuristenausstellung in Amsterdam and in 1913 he was able to issue two compositions and a portrait of the First German Autumn Salon in Berlin.

Time in Bergen

Usually spent Gestel their summer in Bergen ( see Bergen School). There he settled for three years from 1921-1924, in a thatched cottage on Buerweg 4, which had been designed by his friend, the architect L. Streefkerk. The building still exists today. In the years 1923 and 1924 he made an extended trip to Dresden and Sicily to draw and paint. In 1929 a fire destroyed his studio and much of his work. More than five thousand works on paper, however, were spared and are now managed by the Dutch Instituut Collectie Nederland.

After his stay in Bergen, he had his studio in Blaricum. During this time, his style was moving increasingly towards abstraction without being actually abstract.

Health

Leo Gestel suffered since his thirtieth year from a stomach ailment and was therefore often ill.

Importance to the art world

Leo Gestel was one of the first Dutch artists who experimented with Cubism and Expressionism. Because of him this art directions were set in the Netherlands. He is one of the most important Dutch artists of the modern age.

Works in the public domain

Rijksakademie Bergen, North Holland Bergen School (art) Thatching Germanisches Nationalmuseum Es Baluard Name Authority File
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