Gerrit Hondius
American, 1891 - 1970
Modernist painter Gerrit Hondius was born in the Netherlands and studied painting at the Royal Academy in The Hague. It was there that he developed a passion for Georges Rouault and the French expressionists, but he found a true match for his style and creative energy in New York City.
Hondius moved to New York in 1915, and studied at the Art Students League with Max Weber and Andrew Dasburg. He first caught the eye of the art world with a massive WPA mural in brilliant Fauvist and expressionist hues. In the mural, colorful city people tangled with masked figures, clowns and ballerinas, inviting Old World allegorical figures to frolic in the capital of New World modernity.
In the following years, Hondius split his time between New York and Provincetown, Massachusetts. He had over fifty one-man exhibitions in Europe and the United States. He showed at numerous New York City venues including the Whitney Museum of American Art between 1924 and 1926, 1932 and 1934; at the 1939 World's Fair; at the Museum of Modern Art; at the Rockefeller Center and Graham Gallery, in the 1950s. His work was exhibited posthumously in New York City WPA Art in 1977 at the Parson's School of Design, New York City.
His work is part of the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Art, California; the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Newark Museum of Art, New Jersey; the Reading Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; the Norfolk Museum of Art, Virginia; and the Provincial Museum, Kampden, Holland.
Hondius died in 1970. His papers, sketchbooks, photographs, letters and clippings are in the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Hondius moved to New York in 1915, and studied at the Art Students League with Max Weber and Andrew Dasburg. He first caught the eye of the art world with a massive WPA mural in brilliant Fauvist and expressionist hues. In the mural, colorful city people tangled with masked figures, clowns and ballerinas, inviting Old World allegorical figures to frolic in the capital of New World modernity.
In the following years, Hondius split his time between New York and Provincetown, Massachusetts. He had over fifty one-man exhibitions in Europe and the United States. He showed at numerous New York City venues including the Whitney Museum of American Art between 1924 and 1926, 1932 and 1934; at the 1939 World's Fair; at the Museum of Modern Art; at the Rockefeller Center and Graham Gallery, in the 1950s. His work was exhibited posthumously in New York City WPA Art in 1977 at the Parson's School of Design, New York City.
His work is part of the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Art, California; the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Newark Museum of Art, New Jersey; the Reading Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; the Norfolk Museum of Art, Virginia; and the Provincial Museum, Kampden, Holland.
Hondius died in 1970. His papers, sketchbooks, photographs, letters and clippings are in the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
