Dirkje Kuik - Pen drawing with watercolor: Roofing spider - 1984

Pen and watercolor drawing by Dirkje Kuik. Title: Roofing Spider. Year: 1984. From the book: Aram and the Tree Trunk Gang. The booklet is included. (Aram doesn't dare do anything against the five children who take his fountain pen away. But after his battle with five insects, he dares to bite back). Dimensions of sheet: H23 x W31cm. Dimensions of image: H19 x W24cm. The work is signed at the top left by the artist. The authenticity of the work offered is fully guaranteed. A certificate of authenticity can be e-mailed upon request.

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Dirkje, who lives and works in Utrecht, was born William Diederich Kuik . In 1977, Kuik adopted the first name Dirkje, and in 1979, Kuik underwent surgery in a London hospital and has since lived entirely as a woman. She wrote extensively about her surgery, her experiences as a gender diaspora patient , as she called it, and how she resumed her life after the operation, particularly in "Huishoudboekje met razijnen" (Household Book with Raisins ).

Kuik studied for a time at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam, was an art critic for Het Parool, and drew for Vrij Nederland. In 1960, Kuik, along with Joop Moesman and Henc van Maarseveen, founded the graphic design company De Luis. Participating artists with diverse ideas alternated for twenty years.

Portrait of William Diederich Kuik, 1963

As a graphic artist, illustrator, and draftswoman, she focused on cityscapes, figure representations, and portraits; she was also a writer and poet. She debuted as a poet in 1969 with the collection 45 Gedichten , still under the name William D. Kuik. The work is considered an important contribution to the Dutch neo-romantic movement. For Utrechtse Notities (Utrecht Notes) from 1969, she received the Prose Prize from the municipality of Amsterdam. The serial De held van het potspel (The Hero of the Pot Game) from 1974, illustrated by Kuik herself, was awarded the Vijverberg Prize. From 1958 to 1963 and from 1968 to 1972, she was a member of the Kunstliefde society, a Utrecht association of artists and art lovers, founded in 1807. Dirkje Kuik died in 2008 and was buried in a very private ceremony at the local Soestbergen Cemetery. After her death, an exhibition was organized at Kunstliefde on Nobelstraat, showcasing a triptych of her visual work, a biographical overview of her life, and visual work by contemporaries. In 2008, a museum dedicated to her work was established in her former home at Oudekamp 1 in Utrecht, which existed for approximately four years. Her artistic estate is managed by the "Dirkje Kuik" foundation.