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Dirk Wesseling
Dirk Hendrik Leendert (or D.H.L) Wesseling (May 9, 1899 – December 15, 1984) was a Dutch Impressionist painter.

Life

The Dutch painter Dirk Wesseling was born in 1899 in the town of Bussum, the Netherlands where he spent his youth.

While still a young man, Dirk traveled to the nearby town of Laren where Hendrik Weegewijs, an established painter, had his studio. This artist taught him the essentials of drawing and painting and thus became instrumental in starting Dirk’s career as a painter, although in all other aspects we must recognize Dirk Wesseling as an autodidact.

Dirk moved to many towns and villages in the area, always attracted by their unique scenery. In 1939 he established himself in Amsterdam where he lived and worked until his death in 1984.

Dirk Wesseling dedicated more than 65 years to his art.

Works

FASCINATING CITYSCAPES - In the Amsterdam cityscapes we see that "less is more". The works appear simple, but by omitting details, Dirk Wesseling gives the viewer the opportunity to complete the scene in the mind's eye. This gives his paintings a completely personal lyricism and a lasting fascination with the subject.

THE HARBOUR - Dirk Wesseling found the harbour front of Amsterdam always captivating and ever changing. He saw beauty in stacks of timber, tubing and other freight waiting to be shipped. His paintings of the harbour became a paradigm of geometrical forms at the edge of abstraction.

THE ABSTRACT PERIOD - Dirk dedicated the last ten years of his life mainly to abstract art, creating beautifully balanced paintings. His rich and varied experience enabled him, using various techniques and a unique palette, to create extremely complicated and detailed oils, gouaches and water-colours. They represent a meditation on the essential properties of form and space.

PORTRAITURE - Dirk Wesseling created many portraits, a difficult subject of which he was an absolute master. His portraits of children show his deep affection for the younger generation and have a harmonious beauty through the combination of their mood, refinement and use of colours

References

In 1951 Dirk Wesseling became a member of the BBK, a society of which Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was one of the founding members. In 1977 he was officially elected “Honorary member for life”. Dirk Wesseling is listed in the lexicon of Dutch artist by Pieter A. Scheen (published 1969, ISBN 9-06-522014-3). The Netherlands Institute for Art History (Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistoriche Documentatie, or RKD) is listing Dirk Wesseling in their database. The Amsterdam Historical Museum owns several of his paintings.