Hendrikus Roodenburg - Watercolor, Flower Bowl

He lived and worked in The Hague and Northern Italy, and after 1925 in Wassenaar. He was taught by the etcher Ch. Zilcken and was otherwise self-taught. His oeuvre mainly comprises paintings and drawings of landscapes and still lifes in a naturalistic style. Roodenburg was a member of the societies 'Arti et Amicitiae' and 'St-Lucas' in Amsterdam and 'Pulchri Studio' in The Hague. The stylish painting 'Flowers in a Pewter Vase' shows many similarities to the work of the well-known still-life painter J. Bogaerts. Throughout his life, Roodenburg collaborated extensively with the art trade. His teacher Ph. Zilcken introduced him to the Hague art dealer Schüller on the Plein in The Hague as early as 1913. Amsterdam captured his attention early on, so that in 1916 the art dealers Buffa on the Kalverstraat and Caramelli & Tessaro on the Spui followed. Since the early 1920s, Roodenburg supplied at least twenty art dealers throughout the Netherlands. Much later, in the late 1970s, he sold hundreds of color etchings in California through trade contacts. Roodenburg produced topographical etchings of the relevant region or city for his "clientele" throughout the Netherlands. Over the years, Roodenburg preferred to print his recent work rather than his older pieces. A turning point occurred in this regard in the late 1970s: a demand arose from collectors of topographical work for etchings of vanished cityscapes and drastically altered landscapes. In 1997, after compiling his catalogue raisonné, his daughter decided to transfer the entire print collection, along with documentation, drawings, and sketches, to the Museum Commanderie van Sint-Jan in Nijmegen. Roodenburg's catalogue raisonné is still available for purchase at the modern antiquarian bookshop. ISBN 90-6829-060-6.