Aat Veldhoen - Rotaprint, mother with child.

Aat Veldhoen (Amsterdam, 1934 - 2018) After Aat purchased his etching press in 1950, he developed into a portrait artist with a keen eye for detail. His portraits do not hide the fact that he has great psychological insight into those he portrays. Simon Carmiggelt has characterized Aat Veldhoen's work as a lifelong and sincere interest in 'all aspects of human life'. At the end of the 1950s, Aat focused on depicting 'the human being on the border between life and death'. At the time, this was seen as controversial. In the operating room of an Amsterdam hospital, he made etchings of people on the operating table. A series that was continued with prints of women giving birth. He then rode along in police cars to draw traffic victims. In 1964, Aat immersed himself in the Rota print technique. This allowed him to realize his ideal of making art for the people. Due to the large production, his prints could be sold for a few guilders each. The prints are displayed on a cargo bike and sold that way. When Aat is forced to stop after two years, this means the end of his etching period. From that moment on, he focuses on painting and sculpture. He will only pick up etching again years later. Aat: `I am in the fortunate position that I can make a living from my work as an artist. Few artists can do that. It doesn't matter to me whether my work is in the collection of the Dutch Bank or hangs in a museum. I think the most important thing is that I can paint. I always try to remain styleless because if you get a style, you quickly lapse into mannerism and I think you should always try not to become a mannerist. You should try out new things and materials. Nowadays, as an artist, you can buy anything you want and with all those things I try to remain as styleless as possible. I will always continue to believe in visual art because it is just like playing the violin. It will never disappear. It is something of the people, no matter how it develops. Whether you paint figuratively or non-figuratively, it is always autobiographical. Every artist makes art about himself.`