Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman

Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman (1882-1945) is a Dutch artist who started his career as a printer. He owned his own printing business as of 1908. In 1917 he began to paint. At first Werkman painted directly from nature. He cherished great admiration for Vincent van Gogh, whose work he had already seen in 1896 at an exhibition in Groningen. Although Hendrik Werkman’s style is related to the expressionism of the Groningen artistic circle De Ploeg (The Plow), of which he became a member in 1920, his art does manifest a very original vision. In 1921 Werkman sold his printing business, which was not doing well. After that he had to print on hired machines. He produced the catalogues of De Ploeg and invented a new way of printing, the so-called ‘hot printing,’ whereby he made use of cut outs. Werkman usually worked in series, such as the hot printing series which he made between 1935 and 1937, wherein he developed a unique visual language. During the World War II Werkman distributed materials printed in De Blauwe Schuit (The Blue Barge) that called for resistance against the German occupier. Werkman was arrested and died in prison, just before the liberation in April 1945.