Jannes de Vries artwork • watercolour • drawing • previously for sale Bignasco in the Maggia valley, Italy

Jannes de Vries is one of the painters of the Groninger Ploeg. Of them he was the most internationally oriented painter, who during a trip in 1923 and 1924 to Paris, Rome and North Africa gained many foreign contacts. His work is roughly divided into two groups: the subdued canvases that are made up of sober greens and browns and betray the influence of a painter such as Gauguin, and the intensely expressionistic, colorful work with mainly Groninger motifs. Especially since the 1930s this latter style was characteristic of his art. Like many other Ploeg members, the painter was also active as a designer. He designed book covers, furniture, woven rugs and packaging for the Tjoklat factory.