Very large oil on canvas painting by the famous North-Dutch figurative painter. (recently professional doubled) Dirk Nap was born in 1908 in the North-Holland coal village of Langedijk. At an early age he felt the urge to be a painter. His parents disagreed with that idea and insisted that he should at least be able to make a decent living for himself. So after pressing his parents for a long time, he got permission to obtain a degree in drawing, so he could work as an art teacher. Through self study, he obtained a lower-ranked certificate, after which he was admitted to the fourth year of the State Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam. Under the guidance of professor Huub Luns, Dirk Nap obtained his teacher’s degree in 2 ½ years. Nap had established himself as a free artist from the start, which he remained for a large part of his life. He liked to talk about art history with others and he soon developed himself as a true pedagogue. He enjoyed sharing his knowledge and skills with other people and to convey it to others. Dirk Nap founded an art school in Alkmaar that gained great recognition within a short period of time. This school offered courses for different certifications and had a very high success rate over the years. Nap mostly painted figures, still lifes, landscapes and flowers, and he was one of the founders of the artists’ association ‘Doorwerken’. His flower still lifes are characterised by their realistic representations. His work is naturalistic in nature, but it is striking that they reveal a great inner peace, excellent composition skills and a proficient craftsmanship. D.A. Klomp wrote in the Alkmaarder Gazette of 6 August 1942 an article on the occasion of an exhibition of Dirk Nap’s work that stated: those who like to have the illusion of a bright summery sun in the morning, even when the weather is bad, are well advised to obtain one of Nap’s flower still lifes. Dirk Nap died in Alkmaar in 1983.