Wim de Haan - Abstract composition from 1959

This is an exceptional and rare work by the artist Jacobus 'Wim' de Haan (1913 - 1967). De Haan is often considered, alongside Wagemakers and Bogart, as one of the most important Dutch material painters. He often applied various techniques to his drawings, resulting in an abstract explosion of form and colour. His oeuvre reflects the chaos of a lived life, a recurring theme that was also present in his personal life. During the period 1942 to 1946 he was a Japanese prisoner of war, where he worked on the Burma railway, an experience that made a deep impression on him. Upon his return in 1953, he started making art. This work most likely dates from this early period.


For De Haan, the arts were the medium par excellence to express the depth of his being. His work is included in various museum collections, including Boijmans van Beuningen and the Kröller Müller. After his death in 1967, a memorial exhibition took place in London, and in 1975 a retrospective exhibition opened at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.