Martin Van Wordragen (1928-2011) - Zonlicht

Martin van Wordragen
Dutch painter

Martin van Wordpunten van Wordragen (Ammerzoden, 9 February 1928 – Veurne, 23 August 2011) was a Dutch painter and display decorator.

Early years
Martinus Wilhelmus van Wordragen was born in Ammerzoden and was the third child in a family of ten children. His interest in drawing and painting showed early. The Wordragen family had to leave the village of Ammerzoden in 1944 due to World War II and fled to Friesland. After liberation the family returned to their birthplace Ammerzoden and Martin, as a young man, worked as a house painter and sometimes carried out decorative work. He completed secondary education with the local Brothers and then took the drawing-teacher course in ’s-Hertogenbosch. Here he successively earned the diploma of drawing teacher and “etaleur-decorateur” and later followed a course as “advertising assistant.”

Early painting
In 1947 Van Wordragen made his first oil painting titled “Milkmaid,” which still looked classical and true to nature with its rural scene. In honor of the inauguration of Queen Juliana, Van Wordragen received in 1948 the commission to paint a metre-tall portrait of the new queen. In 1954 Van Wordragen moved to Hasselt through a colleague. Although the Flemish cultural climate suited him better, he painted little until his marriage in June 1958 to Helena Goesten.

Flemish Expressionism
Van Wordragen frequently visited museums and exhibitions and became acquainted with the work of Constant Permeke, which made him part of Flemish Expressionism. He became acquainted with the Cobra movement and discovered the expressionist manner of painting in which expression and emotional feelings were more important than the form of the figure and the subject. Here Van Wordragen evolved from Flemish Expressionism toward a “personal” expressionism with characteristics unique to the Cobra movement.

In 1964 he exhibited with, among others, Robert Vandereycken and Amand Van Rompaey in an open-air exhibition in Stevoort. In 1963 he, together with Theo Hoeven, founded the artists’ circle “Sakoura” (Japanese cherry blossom). In 1990 a book appeared on the occasion of his 40-year painting career: Martin van Wordragen – 40 years on the road, followed by an exhibition at Galerie Albert in Hasselt.

Having previously exhibited with artists such as Appel, Corneille, Alechinsky and Lucebert, Martin van Wordragen’s real breakthrough came in 1996 when gallery owner Cees Clijsen from Nuenen discovered the artist’s work. This gallery owner recognized the quality and distinctive portrayal of the paintings to such an extent that he purchased a large portion of the collection. On the occasion of his 70th birthday, a second book appeared in 1998: Martin van Wordragen: 70 years on the road. In 2005 Van Wordragen was the subject of a large retrospective at Museum Jan van der Togt in Amstelveen and a book outlining his complete oeuvre appeared: Martin van Wordragen: Harvest of years

Sunlight:
Work: 80 × 80 cm
Incl. frame: 87.5 × 87.5 cm