Kees van Dongen

Cornelis Theodorus Maria 'Kees' van Dongen (26 January 1877 – 28 May 1968) was a Dutch-French painter and one of the Fauves at the controversial 1905 Salon d'Automne exhibition. He gained a reputation for his sensuous, at times garish, portraits.

Life and work

Kees van Dongen was born in Delfshaven, then on the outskirts, and today a borough, of Rotterdam. He was the second of four children in a middle-class family. In 1892, at age 16, Kees van Dongen started his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Rotterdam, working with J. Striening and J.G. Heyberg. During this period (1892–97), van Dongen frequented the Red Quarter seaport area, where he drew scenes of sailors and prostitutes. He met Augusta Preitinger at the Academy, a fellow painter.

In 1897, van Dongen lived in Paris for several months, where there was a large emigre community. In December 1899 he returned from Rotterdam to Paris, where Preitinger had moved before him and found work.

Marriage and family

He returned to join Augusta Preitinger ("Guus"), whom he had met at the Academy. They married on 11 July 1901. They had two children together: a son died a couple of days after birth in December 1901; their daughter Augusta, called "Dolly", was born 18 April 1905.

Van Dongen

Van Dongen can refer to

Dongen

Dongen ( pronunciation ) is a municipality and a village in the southern Netherlands. In the past it was home to a profitable Leather industry, to which a few old shoe factories in the town's older sections still testify. The town is formed near a small river called "Donge" (about ten feet across), the water of which was used extensively for the leather industry. The Aerts Automobile was built here in 1899.

Population centres

Topography

Dutch topographic map of the municipality of Dongen, June 2015

Politics

The municipal council exists of 21 chairs. You can find the composition of the council since 1998 below:

Notable residents

References

External links

Media related to Dongen at Wikimedia Commons