WGF Jansen (1871-1949) - Veere

Willem George Frederik Jansen was born on December 25, 1871 in Harlingen and began his artistic career at the age of 20.
He attended the Arts and Crafts School in Haarlem to study decorative arts.
Afterwards he went as a decorative painter to Amsterdam and mainly painted ceilings in Den Bosch, Leeuwarden and Maastricht.
He was offered a position at the Rozenburg pottery factory where for a time he could work on his own designs until he was offered a position at the Gouda pottery factory and later at the pottery factory "de Distel" in Amsterdam. That Jansen did well in pottery art is proven by the many distinctions he received for it.
In 1898 he married Hildegonda Zijlstra, and between 1903 and 1908 he lived in The Hague and in Amsterdam. It is written that he visited Willem Knip in Laren and that Knip persuaded him to come to the Gooi region, where he soon thereafter settled on June 19, 1908 in the former Brewery in Blaricum, where several painters had already lived and worked.
Jansen was a friendly man who was very helpful.
Especially in the difficult war years he devoted himself to those in hiding.
He was also a good painter and an admirer of the Hague School and the Marissen.
He developed his own impressionistic style. Although he found the landscapes of the Gooi charming and thus painted there a lot, he also worked in Brabant, Drenthe and in the coastal towns such as Egmond. W.G.F. Jansen was an exceedingly skilled artist with a balanced temperament. He was not influenced by anyone in his vision and, although he had many friends among the Larense artists, his art remained independent, calm, sympathetic and warm and was like a reflection of his strong personality. He did not lack for success. He sold well and also had connections with English, American and Canadian art buyers.
In Artis he worked for two years on the Texel Diorama, a grand canvas of 28 meters long and 9 meters high, which was completed in 1925.