Ad Verstijnen
Ad Verstijnen was born on 18-08-1946 in Arnhem. Education: Academy for Visual Education, training for drawing and crafts teacher in Tilburg
Verstijnen's artistic career started in his early years. Over time, he developed his own methods and techniques and experimented with all kinds of materials such as corrugated cardboard, jute, plastic and structural materials. Partly due to the use of these materials, characteristic works were created.
His recent paintings are characterized by a powerful handwriting and a strong use of color. In this way stable compositions are created, not devoid of humor.
The childhood drawings of his children, Maaike and Edgar, were often a source of inspiration. The optimism in this appealed to him. He began to see and appreciate this more and more.
The resulting style clearly shows affinity with the bright colors and spontaneous expression of the international Cobra group. Ad Verstijnen paints the immediate environment of the child: child with cat, bicycle, bird and ball. All these images symbolize freedom and have nothing to do with the norms and rules of adult society. In this way the artist consciously detaches himself from the norms taught at the academy. Recently, Ad Verstijnen has been making more and more spatial work.
Ad Verstijnen's paintings and sculptures are in many collections. Private individuals, companies, the government and museums bought his work. His work can be seen in numerous places, including in the House of Representatives and Noordeinde Palace, Ministry of Education in The Hague.
