Eef de Weerd - Naked

Eef de Weerd - Nude
Drawing from 1979
Signed and dated

Eef de Weerd was a special artist with a complicated life, in Hengelo he spent a lot of time with Theo Wolvecamp
This work is in perfect condition.

Eef de Weerd was born in 1926. He dreamed, together with his neighbor Theo Wolvecamp, of becoming an artist one day. They were both internationally oriented and were both tormented by depression and alcohol addiction. They had big plans. But before they could really do anything, the Second World War broke out. Their paths diverged. Theo went into hiding and Eef was sent to work in Germany, something that left deep scars on him.
In 1945 Wolvecamp and de Weerd went to the Academy of Arts and Crafts in Arnhem. However, this did not bring them what they expected. Due to lack of money, Eef had to quit after a few years. He went into military service and served more than three years in the Dutch East Indies, which caused new traumas.
In 1949, after his military service in the Dutch East Indies, he made a new start at the AKI in Enschede. His painting teacher and source of inspiration was Johan Haanstra. This also applied to the studio of Jan Bolink in Enschede, which was a central place for artists. At the academy, the students drew each other, but models from outside were also brought in. Among them was Ans Wortel from Alkmaar, who worked as a designer in the Tubantia clothing factory in Enschede and also had a number of 'sewing houses' for wealthy ladies. He told Ans that he would only be able to paint like her if he had mastered drawing and painting 'from nature'. When Ans became pregnant, the couple got married, and after daughter Marianne, they also had a son Pieter.
As a rising talent, Eef left for a month in 1953 for the Haute Savoie in France. This was thanks to an arrangement by the Holten family doctor JP Nagelhout. After a few years, his marriage to Ans ended and Eef went through a very difficult period for a number of years. He was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Wolfheze near Arnhem. He was given sedatives, continued to paint, but did not go public with this work. The doctors advised him to only do physical work. He did this in Apeldoorn in a sheet metal factory. Eef disappeared from the art world for ten years.
From 1973 he painted again, his second period. Eef was never part of a group, a gang of painters. He was a man who went his own way, independent of all tendencies of painting. He did work in varying combinations, especially with the six other Hengelo artists of the 20th century. In 1975 he returned to his parental home on the Krabbenbosweg in Hengelo and was very productive until his death. On 30 December 1989 he died suddenly, 63 years old.
Eef de Weerd was one of the most important representatives of modern art in Overijssel. He received an honourable mention at the Geraert ter Borch Prize twice, in 1955 and 1959.
At the end of 2025, there will be a retrospective exhibition in Hengelo (Netherlands) to mark the 35th anniversary of his death, with works never before shown.
This work comes from the previous collection of Galerie de Pook in Hengelo (o), see Gallery stamp on photo.
The work is framed, preference is to pick up the work, otherwise shipping without framing or in consultation with the buyer.