Willem Krijgsman : Sketches by Willem Krijgsman

Sketches by Willem Krijgsman is the art book about figurative sketches on paper by the in Finland living Dutch Visual Artist and Interior Architect, Willem Krijgsman (born in 1953, Delft). This is his third art book: in 2023 and 2024 Books on Demand published two books about his art.

With an interesting interview, he explains, why he wanted to publish the book about his sketches. The publishing of his first art book made him aware of the plenty of art, he had made during the years. He thought, now, that he is 70, it is also a good reason to look back and go through his artworks and see, what he can do with them. During the creation of his second book, he amazingly noticed a lot of sketches made around 25 years ago. Most of them were sketched in sanguine and Indian Red colour, trying out the Old Master's way of drawing and sketching. He decided to write again a new book. He says: In three books I have introduced all my art – it feels like a trilogy.

In his extensive, wonderfully illustrated, new art book he is showing us, how sketching can be art on its own. He touches a variety of subjects: art history, human crisis situations in Africa, humanity, some of his idols in music, sculpture and painting, anatomy, all kinds of tribes and native people, despair, intimacy, erotica, even hairstyles, with many portraits and collage-like pictures. The items, he had chosen as his models, were randomly taken from pictures at hand – interesting, inspiring photographs from newspapers, magazines, art books, picture books etc. He is telling us, that he is needing models: I remember that Rembrandt's students were learning by copying his drawings, etchings and paintings. I didn't just copy the pictures, that I had taken as models: I was given them my own watermark, sometimes in a humoristic and grotesque manner.

Willem Krijgsman (born in 1953, Delft-Holland) is a professional Visual Artist and Interior Architect. Since 1981 he has been living in Finland. He has studied at the College of Arts (Willem de Kooning Academy) in Rotterdam. After his studies, in 1981, he moved to Finland and has worked as an interior architect and free
time artist, since 1997 as a professional visual artist. Krijgsman has held numerous solo exhibitions and
participated in many group exhibitions, besides he has been a curator for art exhibitions. His art contains e.g. paper collages, assemblages, junk art, drawings, colour pencil paintings and clay sculptures. Willem Krijgsman
is especially known for his figurative, symbolic, intertextual colour pencil paintings, but also for his figurative
clay sculptures. Now as a senior visual artist, he has started to look back on his artistic career and wants to show and explain his artworks in wider perspective, or he says: in book-formed exhibitions.

Willem Krijgsman has published (BoD, 2023) his first book in Finnish. In the art book ‘Fifty-Fifty’ he is telling about his integration process into the Finnish society. The book is illustrated by his intertextual colour pencil paintings, using e.g. paintings from the Golden Age of Finnish Art.

In 2024 he has published his second art book (BoD) in English called ‘The Play of Emotion and Fantasy’. The
book contains a large collection of his earlier artworks until 2015: paper collages, assemblages, junk art,
drawings and clay sculpture. In this rich, with photographs and drawings, illustrated book Krijgsman is showing his love for the arts in general.

In 2025 he has published his third art book (BoD) in English called ‘Sketches by Willem Krijgsman’. The book
contains a large number of his figurative sketches on paper. Most of the sketches were made in sanguine and Indian Red colour. In this extensive wonderful illustrated art book, he is showing us, how sketching can be art on its own.

Willem Krijgsman’s info: https://kuvataiteilijamatrikkeli.fi/en (Artist Register – Artists’ Association of Finland)