Nicolas Eekman

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Nicolas Mathieu Eekman (born August 9, 1889 in Brussels , Belgium ; † November 13, 1973 in Paris , France ) born Nikolaas Mathijs Eekman was a Dutch figurative painter. In France, Belgium and Holland he is also known under the names Nico Eekman , Nik Eekman and the pseudonym Ekma .

He is known for his work with watercolors and as a draftsman and engraver. He illustrated books, including Les Destinées by Alfred de Vigny (1933), Contes d'un buveur de bière by Charles Deulin (1945), Tyl Ulenspiegel by Charles de Coster (1946), L'Ane culotte by Henri Bosco (1950). His style differs in three important phases: Expressionism from 1914 to the end of 1920, Flemish Realism until the beginning of 1950, and then “fantastic” painting.

Life

Nicolas Eekman was born in the house where Victor Hugo wrote the play The Wretched , while in exile . At the age of 18, he gave his first lecture in Brussels on the subject of " Van Gogh , the Unknown" which in 1907 was not yet recognized by a general audience. In 1912 Nicolas Eekman visited the first Van Gogh exhibition in Cologne.

After graduating in architecture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, he took refuge during the First World War in the rectory of Nuenen in Holland, where Bart de Ligt served as pastor. The Van Gogh family lived in this rectory 30 years earlier. There was Vincent van Gogh painted the picture the "Potato Eaters". By the end of the war he had exhibitions in the country and Nicolas Eekman's art was bought by Dutch museums, most notably the Kröller-Müller Museum, one of the first institutes to buy Van Gogh's art.

In 1921 Nicolas Eekman settled in Paris and exhibited his works regularly in France and other countries. He often met with the Dutch artists who lived in Paris, including Fred Klein , Piet Mondrian , César Domela, George Vantongerloo and Frans Masereel . He made friends with the gallery owner Jeanne Bucher , who in 1928 wanted to exhibit Eekman's works in her gallery alongside the works of Mondrian. Mondrian only exhibited once in Paris. The two artists, who completely separate the view of art - Mondrian the pioneer of abstract art and Nicolas Eekman totally against it - remained connected through a friendship until the end of their lives.

In the 1930s, Nicolas Eekman regularly participated in collective exhibitions, mostly in the United States, and his solo exhibitions were organized across Europe.

In the period between the world wars, Nicolas Eekman took part in an art movement that was concentrated in the center of the Montparnasse district in Paris. There he made friends with Jean Lurçat , Louis Marcoussis , André Lhote , Max Jacob , Moïse Kisling, Marc Chagall , Picasso , Salvador Dalí , Armand Nakache, Paul Signac , Jacques Lipchitz , Fernand Léger , Edouard Goerg, Geiger, Max Ernst .

During the Paris International Art Exhibition 1937, Nicolas Eekman received a gold medal for his painting La Pelote Bleu ( Blue Pincushion ), which was later acquired by the Jeu du Paume Museum in Paris.

At the beginning of the Second World War he was persecuted by the Nazis and fled to St. Jean de Luz in southwest France, where he temporarily signed his works under the pseudonym Ekma.

In 1944 an exhibition of his took place in the Palace of Fine Arts in Brussels, which was also visited by the Belgian Queen Elisabeth.

Exhibitions in France, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland followed in the 1950s and 1960s. At the International Art Exhibition in Deauville in 1956, he received the "Prix du Nu" award.

In 1961 a wall painting was commissioned by H. Griffon on the subject of medicinal plants of the world. This work was carried out for the pharmacy at Orly Airport in Paris. Eekman died after a retrospective at the Reflets gallery in Brussels. He was buried in Ivry's cemetery near Paris.

heritage

At the suggestion of his daughter Luce Eekman, a foundation was established in 1989 under the name "Le Sillon Nicolas Eekman", which is dedicated to the memory of the painter's life's work. Several exhibitions have since been organized in France and Holland. A catalog of the complete works is in progress.

Publications

  • Paul Fierens, Eekman monograph , Brussells, 1936
  • Maurice Bedel, Introduction à l'Album I , Paris, 1943
  • Maurice Fombeure, Introduction à l'Album II , Paris, 1950
  • Jean-Louis Monod, Eekman, peintre, humaniste… et magicien , éd. Pierre Cailler, Geneva, 1969
  • Nicolas Eekman, peintre graveur , co-edition Le Sillon - Somogy, 2004

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Eekman, Nicolas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Eekman, Nicolas Mathieu (full name); Eekman, Nikolaas Mathijs (maiden name); Eekman, Nico; Eekman, Nik; Ekma (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian painter
DATE OF BIRTH August 9, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Brussels
DATE OF DEATH November 13, 1973
Place of death Paris