Miek Janssen

Jan Toorop : Portrait van Miek Janssen

Miek Janssen (actually Wilhelmina Martha Catharina Janssen, married name Miek le Conge Kleyn-Janssen; * 11. April 1890 in Arnhem , † 20th November 1953 in Hilversum ) was a Dutch poet, art writer and painter whose work give priority to the painter in January Toorop turned.

life and work

Miek Janssen was born in Arnhem in 1890 as the daughter of Catharina Frederika, b. Dijkstra and her husband, the waiter and later hotelier Theodor Janssen, and grew up in Oosterbeek . She had an older brother, a sister, and a younger brother. Like her siblings, she received an artistic education, she wrote poetry and received singing and drawing lessons. Her mother was a Roman Catholic and her father of unknown denomination; she was only baptized as a Catholic in 1914.

Jan Toorop: Miek Janssen, Domburg (1918–1922)

She became a close friend in 1912 with the painter Jan Toorop , who encouraged her to write art reviews. She also published her first poems in his exhibition catalog. He in turn illustrated her collections of poetry, which had been published since 1915, and she was his model. An essay on Jan Toorop, which she published in Onze Kunst in 1915 , appeared in the same year as a book, which appeared in several editions. Further publications about the painter followed, and she began to paint under his guidance. The connection with the married family man Toorop was mainly shaped by a shared mystical Catholicism .

She lived in Apeldoorn until 1921 and in The Hague from 1922 . She wrote various religious plays and novels that were not particularly well received by the critics. Recognition came only from Catholics and people who were friends with Jan Toorop, and she was apparently aware of her limited abilities as a writer.

At the age of 45, Miek Janssen married Rodolphe le Conge Kleyn, a 65-year-old widower with two minor children. He supported them in their cultural activities and financed their publications. In 1951 she moved with her husband to Laren in North Holland .

Miek Janssen died on November 20, 1953 in Hilversum and was buried in the cemetery in Laren.

In the same year an anthology of her poems and another publication appeared. Overall, the criticism stayed at a distance from their works.

Publications

Volumes of poetry

• Aan den einder (1915)
• Aan de bron (1916)
• Schaduw van den toren (1918)

Pieces

• De onreinen (1919)
• Mystery play De wroeging (1922)

Novels

• Renera Genoveva de Caettens (1925)
• Leven! (1929)

Published in German

• Miek Janssen: Jan Toorop (=  The selection from recent poetry and art . Volume 18 ). Führer-Verlag [Volksvereins-Verlag], Mönchengladbach 1927.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ontdek signs, tekenaar, watercolorist Miek Janssen. In: rkd.nl. Retrieved February 18, 2020 (Dutch). 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} A.H. Huussen jr .: Janssen, Wilhelmina Martha Catharina . In: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland . November 23, 2017 ( online via resources.huygens.knaw.nl ).