A Life in Art and Form
Gerrit van 't Net was a Dutch painter, glass painter, watercolorist, draftsman, and graphic artist. Born in Eemnes, Netherlands, his early years included a period of residence in Germany. His formal artistic training began in Utrecht, where he studied from 1928 to 1932, and continued at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam until 1936. During his time in Paris, he received instruction from Othon Friesz. Eventually, he settled in Amsterdam, where he lived and worked until his death.
His diverse body of work encompassed various mediums, including:
Style and Artistic Evolution
The artistic style of Gerrit van 't Net underwent several shifts throughout his career, moving through figurative, surrealist, and more abstract phases. In his early years in Utrecht, around 1930, he focused on surrealist paintings, drawings, and graphics. These works often utilized compositions based on academic plaster casts of Classical Antiquity figures and detached human limbs. His oeuvre frequently explored themes of the nude, eroticism, and sexual symbolism, including drawings where a man is dominated by a woman.
Beyond his personal practice, he was a dedicated teacher. Starting in 1953, he provided instruction to various students at his studio and at the Vrije Academie 'de Leeuwenburg' in Amsterdam. His teaching philosophy emphasized that the essence of art lay not in the object being drawn, but in the movement of the charcoal on the paper.
