Nico Molenkamp (1920-1998) - Vogel

Nicolaas (Nico) Ferdinand Molenkamp (Enschede 1920 – Tilburg 1998) began as a draftsman in a textile factory. He studied at the predecessor of the Academy for Visual Arts (1945-1948) and at the National Higher Institute for Fine Arts in Antwerp (1949-1953). Molenkamp was from 1953 to 1982 a lecturer in free painting at the Tilburg academy, where he had completed his training. He painted mainly abstract animal and human figures, which he framed on the canvas in a nearly cinematic manner and depicted with striking color schemes. In addition, he drew inspiration from the circus, the fair, and the theater. Molenkamp received, among others, the Talens Prize, the Willink van Collen Prize, and the Verlat Prize. In 1956 he painted a modern Way of the Cross in the fraternal house on Kardinaal de Jongplein. Another well-known Tilburg work by Molenkamp is a portrait of mayor Cees Becht. In 1970 he moved with his family to Koningshoeven, a former country residence of King William II. There his daughter Charlotte Molenkamp also grew up.