André Idserda (1879-1952) - Bloemstilleven

André Idserda grew up in Amsterdam where his father worked as a civil servant. He completed the three-year hbs in Zaandam. He studied briefly to become a drawing teacher, but could not adapt to the regularity and discipline. He would remain the rest of his life a wandering and searching man. André Idserda worked as a house painter for Verkade for a while and in 1898 moved to Antwerp where he worked as a house and decorative painter. He returned to the Netherlands after his father's death. Idserda married the artist Coba van der Lee and moved to Mol, Belgium. During World War I the Idserda family, with their son Theo, moved to the Netherlands. After the war they returned to Belgium, and now lived in Bruges. André Idserda gained considerable notoriety at that time, and he received, among other commissions, the task of painting a portrait of the daughter of the English prime minister Ramsay MacDonald. This brought him many other assignments. Later he moved again to the Netherlands, to Meppel, where he inhabited a houseboat ("La Lutte"). Meppel then had an artists’ association called "Kunst en Vriendschap", which organized a large annual exhibition. Through this group of painters Meppel temporarily grew into a painter’s town. Still in Meppel, after World War II a second group of artists, the Kunstkring Oase, emerged, which persisted until the end of the fifties. His sons Theo Idserda (1915-1992) and Jacques Idserda (1918-2007) were painters. Jacques was also known as a poet and radio journalist. The oil paintings of André Idserda are expressive works about the Dutch countryside, mainly landscapes, still lifes, interiors and portraits. They are heavy and dark, with broad brushstrokes, lit up with sharp touches. In addition, he made many charcoal drawings, which also brought out his expressive style very well. That charcoal was much cheaper than oil paint served him well in the periods when finances were tight.

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