Jan Mensinga - Lithograph, scenes from café life

Jan Mensinga (Leeuwarden 1924 – 1998 Amsterdam) is one of the most important and interesting lithographers the Netherlands produced in the twentieth century. Jan Mensinga taught himself etching and lithography and later trained at the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. He was a printmaking lecturer at the Rijksacademie for a time. His oeuvre can sometimes be compared to one large diary; it can be read as such. He masters the technique like no other and he lithographs what he experiences. He often draws themes from his immediate surroundings. Whoever he loves, whoever he hates, you find it reflected in his work. He made two or three lithographs a day and rarely had people pose. He absorbed them and then drew them entirely from memory. The figures in his prints are often tragic, regardless of their rank or status. Mensinga drew inspiration from his daily life, fairy tales, legends, and mythology. His fascination with and extensive knowledge of the Bible and Hasidic literature also constantly recur in the subjects of his oeuvre. He never printed large editions and made his own printing ink, because the black from the store was not black enough for him. Mensinga's work is included in collections such as that of the Bibliothèque National in Paris and the print collection of the Rijksmuseum. It was also on display at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Henriette Polak Museum in Zutphen, and in places such as Bratislava (Slovakia) and Lodz (Poland).