Cornelis Zitman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cornelis Zitman
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Zitman in 2006.
|
|
| Born | 9 November 1926 Leiden, Netherlands
|
| Died | 10 January 2016 (aged 89) Caracas, Venezuela
|
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Known for | Sculpture |
Cornelis Zitman (born November 9, 1926 – died January 10, 2016) was a famous artist from the Netherlands. He was known for his amazing sculptures and drawings.
Contents
Life Story of Cornelis Zitman
Early Life and Moving to Venezuela
Cornelis Zitman was born in 1926 in Leiden, a city in the Netherlands. His family worked in construction. When he was just 15, he started studying art at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague.
After finishing his studies in 1947, he didn't want to join the army. He disagreed with his country's actions in Indonesia. So, he left the Netherlands on a Swedish oil tanker and traveled all the way to Venezuela.
Starting His Art Career
Zitman first settled in a Venezuelan city called Coro. He found a job there as a technical draftsman for a building company. In his free time, he loved to paint and started trying out sculpture.
Two years later, he moved to Caracas, the capital city. He worked as a furniture designer and later became a manager at a factory. In 1951, he won the National Sculpture Prize in Venezuela. He also began teaching design classes at the Central University of Venezuela. He kept drawing and painting a lot.
Focusing on Sculpture
In 1958, Zitman showed his drawings and paintings at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Caracas. After this, he decided to leave his business life behind. He moved to the island of Grenada to focus completely on painting. This is also where he really started to develop his unique style in sculpture.
In 1961, Zitman went to Boston for an art show. That same year, he returned to the Netherlands. He wanted to learn more about how to melt metal for sculptures. In 1964, he worked as an apprentice to a sculptor named Pieter Starreveld.
Return to Venezuela and Success
Soon after, Zitman moved back to Caracas for good. He became a design professor at the Central University of Venezuela. The next year, he started making more small sculptures directly from wax.
In 1971, he had his first big art show at the Galerie Dina Vierny in Paris. From then on, he worked only on sculptures. Over the years, he had many shows in Venezuela, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United States, and Japan. He won many awards, both in Venezuela and other countries.
His sculptures are now in famous places like the National Art Gallery in Caracas. They are also in the Musée Maillol in Paris. Cornelis Zitman passed away on January 10, 2016, when he was 89 years old.
Artistic Style
In his sculptures, Cornelis Zitman often showed the human body in a special way. He liked to show and even make bigger the shapes of the indigenous peoples of Venezuela. He especially focused on the female figure.
Awards and Exhibitions
Major Exhibitions
Cornelis Zitman took part in many important art shows around the world. These included:
- The International Sculpture-Drawing Biennial of Budapest.
- The São Paulo Art Biennial.
- The International Contemporary Art Fairs of Paris (FIAC) and Madrid (ARCO).
He also had many solo shows where only his art was displayed. Some of these were at:
- The Dina Vierny Gallery in Paris.
- The Museum of Contemporary Art of Caracas.
- The Tokoro Gallery in Tokyo.
- The Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá (MAMBO).
- The Sculptures by the Sea Museum in Scheveningen, Netherlands.
Awards and Honors
Zitman earned several important awards for his art:
- In 1951, he won the National Sculpture Prize in Caracas.
- In 1971, he received the First Prize at the Sculpture Biennial of Budapest.
- In 1981, he won the Acquisition Prize at the Biennial of Visual Arts in Caracas.
- In 1982, he received a Special Prize at the 3rd Kotaro Takamura Grand Prize Exhibition. This show was held at the Hakone Open-Air Museum near Tokyo.
- In 2005, he was given a special honor called the Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.
See also
In Spanish: Cornelis Zitman para niños
