Herman Bielingartist • painter • watercolourist • draughtsman • sculptorRotterdam 1887-1964 Rhoon

Herman Bieling, draftsman, painter, graphic artist and sculptor, lived and worked most of his life in Hillegersberg and Rhoon. He was the driving force behind the Rotterdam artists' federation 'De Branding', one of the most important avant-garde groups of the First World War. De Branding was founded as an indictment against Rotterdam's rigid and conservative art policy, which did not give young, modern artists the opportunity to exhibit their work. In the relatively short period that De Branding existed (1917-1926), many avant-garde artists were given the opportunity to exhibit in Rotterdam. Not only Dutch artists, but also foreign artists such as Kurt Schwitters, Paul Klee, Constantin Brancusi, Henri Le Fauconnier and Gustave de Smet were represented with work at the exhibitions. De Branding was not a group with a clear program. When most of the members of De Branding started working abstractly, Bieling remained faithful to realism – reality had to always remain recognizable – despite his appreciation for the abstract work of other artists. When CoBrA and abstract art demand attention after the Second World War, Bieling is somewhat forgotten. Due to a major fire in his studio on the Willemskade in 1930, most of his avant-garde work was lost, so that none of his work from that period ended up in museums.

In Rotterdam, Bieling takes evening classes at the Academy of Visual Arts while he still lives with his parents in Hillegersberg. After his marriage in 1920, he lived alternately in Bennekom, Renkum and Noordwijk. Between 1928 and 1938 again in Hillegersberg, where he mainly makes realistic work. In 1938 he returns to Rhoon where he will stay until his death in 1964. In those later years he mainly painted landscapes, gardens, river and seascapes, fairgrounds and festive occasions. Bieling was a traveller, he traveled to France (Brittany, Corsica), Germany, Finland and the United States, where his son lived. In 1928 he visited Mallorca for the first time and spent some time in Morocco.

Bieling was a hard worker with boundless energy and a strong personality; during the interwar period he was known for his idealistic actions. He tasted various painting styles; luminism and expressionism (1915-1918), cubism – in his stylized landscapes between 1917-1920 – and from the 1930s realism that he designed in his own, recognizable style. Bieling was not only a painter, but also a draftsman and sculptor. He worked for many years as a draftsman for the Dagblad van Rotterdam, making numerous beautiful covers for the newspaper's Zondagsblad. He was also active in other areas, including as a board member of the Sports Association 't Zwarte Plasje van Hillegersberg.