At the age of eighteen, Zwier enrolled at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam, where he studied under renowned artists Hendrik Jan Wolter and Heinrich Campendonk. The influence of Campendonk, a member of the influential German Expressionist movement Der Blaue Reiter, proved particularly significant in shaping Zwier’s artistic vision. While embracing modernist principles, Zwier gradually developed a highly personal style that combined expressive colour with geometric order.

A major source of inspiration throughout his oeuvre was the industrial landscape of his birthplace. The harbours, shipyards, warehouses, cranes, and construction sites of the port environment provided him with a rich visual vocabulary that he translated into dynamic, abstract compositions. Rather than depicting these scenes realistically, Zwier distilled them into rhythmic arrangements of forms, lines, and colours that conveyed both the structure and energy of modern urban life.

Today, Dick Zwier is recognized as an important representative of Dutch post-war modernism. His work is included in prominent public collections, including the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, where it continues to reflect his unique interpretation of industry, architecture, and geometric abstraction.