Nic Eekmanartist • painterBrussel 1889-1973 Parijs

Nico Eekman, architect, painter and draftsman, was born in Brussels as the son of Dutch parents. In 1914 he emigrated to the Netherlands, had his first exhibition there a year later at the galerie d'Autretsch in The Hague, and was discovered by H.P. Bremmer who advised Hélène Kröller-Müller to buy his work. In 1920 the painter settled in Paris for good. There he became friends with Piet Mondrian, with whom he exhibited at Jeanne Bucher in 1928. In Eekman's early work, memories of farm life and the free Brabant land from his youth play a major role. His oeuvre can be regarded as the polar opposite of impressionism; he did not aim to capture a fleeting impression, but to recreate memories. Farmers, labourers, fishermen and vagabonds populated his work in the 1920s. After that, his performances become more and more imaginative.