About the artist

Jan Poortenaar was a Dutch visual and graphic artist who worked with a great variety of materials, creating watercolours, paintings, etches, lithographs and woodcuts. He was mainly autodidact but was tutored by artists Willem Witsen an Piet van Wijngaerdt. Poortenaar received a grant from the government at the age of 20, opening the path to becoming a more active artist and having exhibitions in Brussels and London, where he lived for almost 8 years. He won a silver medal at the International Exhibition in San Francisco of 1915.

He was an active traveler, often accompanied by his wife Geertruida van Vladeracken, who was a singer and composer. When they went on a tour together in the Dutch Indies around 1922, where he played the piano while his wife sang. In the meantime, Poortenaar found plenty of inspiration in the beauty of the Dutch Indies, painting landscapes, Orientalist scenes, cityscapes and portraits.

Poortenaar was a member of Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam and the Haagse Kunskring in the Hague. His works can be seen in multiple museums, such as the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, the Albertina in Vienna and the British Museum London.
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