Jacobus Johannes "Koos" van Ellinckhuijzen (20 September 1942 – 6 September 2016) was a Namibian visual artist. He was most noted for his work on Namibian and South-West African postage stamps.[1]
Biography
editVan Ellinckhuijzen was born to Dutch parents on 20 September 1942 in Pretoria, the then administrative capital of the Union of South Africa. He pursued a military career but, after 11 years of service, became a game warden with the Department of Nature Conservation and Tourism in South-West Africa. Without any formal instructions in the arts he completed four paintings during that time. In 1979 he became a full-time artist.[2]
Van Ellinckhuijzen was a surrealist exhibiting in both Namibia and the United States. His personal preference were surreal and metaphysical topics as well as three-dimensional astrophysical panoramas that he called "Stereoptic" creations. Of his stamps The solar system, Halley's comet and Satellites in orbit are well-known. The painting Nativity was awarded a first prize at a 3D arts exhibition in Rochester, NY in the United States. He is claimed to have been the first artist to manually produce stereo paintings.[1] Adelheid Lilienthal, in Art in Namibia, noted the scientific accuracy of his designs, their clean lines and his use of watercolor techniques.[3][4][5] Of his sources of inspiration, van Ellinckhuijzen wrote that "M. C. Escher, René Magritte and Albert Einstein [...] all left their legacies in Koos' soul".[6]
Van Ellinckhuijzen died on 6 September 2016 in Swakopmund at the age of 73, a few days after suffering a stroke.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b "Exhibition by Koos van Ellinckhuijzen: 'Back home in Swakopmund'". The Namibian. 24 May 2011.
- ^ Terblanche, Niel (8 September 2016). "Legendary visual arts artist passes". Informanté. p. 10.
- ^ Lilienthal, Adelheid (1997). "Art in Namibia", ISBN 99916-30-73-2
- ^ Zwei Gemälde zu ersteigern - Und wie viel bieten Sie? Deutsch in Namibia (DiN)
- ^ Okkie de Jager (South Africa) and Riaan Steenkamp (Namibia), "The Art of Koos van Ellinckhuijzen", H.E.S.S. members review the significant contributions of Koos van Ellinckhuijzen to Art and Philately.
- ^ "Koos J.J. van Ellinckhuijzen". blogspot.com. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ^ "Famed Namibian artist Koos van Ellinckhuijzen passes on at age 73". Namib Times. 9 September 2016.
External links
edit- "Tribute to Koos van Ellinckhuijzen (1942 to 2016)", Gondwana Collection (Namibia), 16 September 2016.