Wim Motz - Lithograph, Abstract

Wim Motz was a painter and graphic artist. He was born in Rotterdam and his only education was primary school. Afterwards, he supported himself by working in various professions, such as gardener, miner, fairground traveler, market vendor, and house painter. His career as an artist did not begin until he was 37 years old. He took drawing lessons from Jan van Straten and worked under his guidance to catch up significantly. Wim Motz displayed great productivity during his lifetime. His work ethic led him from Impressionism to Expressionism, and from pure abstraction back to recognizable reality. He depicted his subjects on canvas and paper full of dynamism and passion. And not without success. He exhibited in America, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Initially, Motz painted depictions that were not true to nature, but nevertheless easily recognizable, such as harbor and industrial scenes. For four years (1954–1958), he was part of the group “De vier Rotterdammers” (The Four Rotterdammers). He subsequently transitioned from figurative art to total abstraction. As a member of the “Ara Group”, he mastered the technique of lithography. In addition to color lithographs, he also produced black-and-white stone prints and linocuts. For his paintings, he used a masonry technique. Like his great role model Nicolas de Staël, he applied the paint to the canvas with a spatula. He was also known as the “Painter of Color”. In the mid-1960s, he returned to figurative work.