Writings onthe work

This book is more than a biography. It is the story of a transmission — that of a gaze. Willem A. van Willigen retraces his father's life, the Dutch painter Kees van Willigen (1915–1990), through personal memories and exceptional documentation.

From The Hague to Hanau — where Kees trained in goldsmithing and Art Deco jewellery design in the 1930s — to the islands of Java and Biliton, and through the hardships of WWII when Kees drew in POW camps, the book follows an extraordinary human trajectory.

The second part follows the artist's development in the Ardèche, where his organic, poetic style matured between 1957 and 1969. The volume also contains a tribute by Johanny Pagenel and rich iconography.