Johan Jacob Voskuil - A large and sunny 1950s Gouache "cap Martin" signed - Sold

• Johan Jacob (Jo) Voskuil (Breda, 26 March 1897 – Amsterdam, 22 June 1972) was a Dutch painter, book cover designer, illustrator and resistance fighter during the Second World War.

Voskuil was a teacher in Breda, and he was a self-taught painter. In the 1920s he left for Bergen aan Zee where he devoted himself entirely to art. He was a communist and made many political posters and book covers, such as those of the Nieuwe Geïllustreerde Wereldgeschiedenis (1929-1932) edited by Jan Romein. His posters made Arbeiders leest De Tribune (from the 1920s) and De Olympiade onder dictatuur (The Olympiad under Dictatorship) famous. He made them for the exhibition that he organised together with the photographer Cas Oorthuys in 1936 to show the real Germany at the time of the Berlin Nazified Olympiad. Together with Oorthuys he formed the advertising agency OV 20 (Oorthuys-Vos 20) from 1932 to 1935 and also designed book covers there.
Voskuil was a member of the Amsterdam artists' association 'De Onafhankelijken', but resigned his membership when the association joined the Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer in late 1941/early 1942. Voskuil joined the illegal magazine De Vrije Kunstenaar around sculptor and resistance fighter Gerrit van der Veen. The clown was one of Voskuil's favourite subjects, such as his Clown with mask (1933, Breda's Museum). He also made a portrait of Wim Ibo.
Voskuil married the German operetta singer, actress and cabaret artist Dora Paulsen on 5 May 1938. They had no children. After her death in 1970, he remarried on 21 January 1972 with the opera singer Ruth Horna. Jo Voskuil died not long after.