Evert
Pieters' parents are unwealthy people from Holland, so he
has to find a job of his owne when he finishes Elementary
school. Evert Pieters follows a course with a housepainter
for a while. When he is about 19 he starts an adventure
trip to Antwerp, hoping he will be better of as a
pupil-decorator.
At the Royal Academy for fine
Arts in Antwerp he joins the evening class drawing,
thought by the famous animal painter, Charles Verlat. Two
years long, he works real hard with drawing of plaster
models. On Sunday and in his free time, he paints a lot of
images and etchings, but he never dares to show them to
anyone. Sometimes he gives them away as a present.
Evert Pieters meets Theodoor
Verstraete. Verstraete is a virtuous artist in landscapes.
Theodoor Verstraete's wife gets familiar with a painting
of Evert Pieters, she tells her husband about it. That's
how the artist of Brasschaat notices Evert Pieters. During
that time Evert Pieters will stay in Brasschaat. He learns
how to paint outside the house there, but also in the
' Kalmthoutse Heide '. About 1883 - 1884, they travel around
there in a caravan.
Once in a while, Evert Pieters
goes back to Holland. He works there somewhere near Blaricum,
Gelderland, Haarlem, Katwijk, Laren, Muiderberg, Oosterbeek,
Wolfheze en Volendam. Finaly, he will definitely settle in
Laren. Evert Pieters is a Dutch painter, but because of his
habits his collegues always call him the ' Flemish '. That
surely refers to his stay in Antwerp and Brasschaat, were he
follows these courses. He lives there an artistic life and
meets a lot of friends. Because of his famous 'Gooise'
interiors with figures, he is known as one of the most
important ' Gooise ' painters. One gets to know even him better
through his different works which were also made outside Gooi.
The work ' Rusttijd van de houtakkers '
was sent to the Dutch department of the world exposition of
Antwerp. Evert Pieters had his first success with it in 1885.
He gets his first popularity through this perfect and seriously
painted work of art. Now he can survive financially when he
starts selling some, mostly small paintings. The ' Sturm und
Drang ' period he goes through together with his friends, is of
big importance for his later development. It gives him
selfconfidence and the feeling of independence. The painting
' Korenveld in Vlaanderen ' on the world exposition in Antwerp in
1894 delivers him a medal in second degree. In 1896 it is good
for a gold medal in the ' Salon de Champs Elysées ' in Paris.
Later, in 1898, he also gets a golden medal in Barcelona, the
museum there finally buys the painting.
Evert Pieters becomes a member of the
artgroup " Als Ik Kan " and exposes also in the
' Verlatzaal ' in Antwerp. Because of his international expressions
he is knighted in the ' Leopoldsorde '. First he isn't welcome as
a member of the ' Haagse ' group " Pulchri Studio ", but
after the interference of the mighty Jacob Maris, his membership
is accepted unanimously. Evert Pieters is also a member of the group
" Arti et Amicitiae " in Amsterdam. He paints natural
figures, interiors, landscapes, marines and portrets. He gets
praised for his colorostic results. That appears from the positive
comments that are written because of the exhibits with the
artgroup " Als Ik Kan ". His work developes to lighter
colours, especially after his return to Holland. They are full
of melancholic realism, quietness and serenity. He also tries the
etchingtechnics once in a while.
The success of Evert Pieters grows,
financial it goes out the same way. He marries Marie van de
Bossche and travels with her to Paris and Barbizon. By the end
of 1897 he returns to Holland and settles in Blaricum in the
' Torenlaan ' which he changes into a house to live in and a
workshop. This old brewery, on the border of Blaricum and Laren,
becomes the workshop of a couple ' Gooise ' painters. Evert Pieters
calls it " Azeick-kan ", a memory of the Antwerp membership of
the group of painters. It is here that a lot of his great
paintings are born. He decorates a little corner in his workshop
where the models can pose.
After a visit to ' Egmond aan zee ',
and possibly also because of his friendship with Weissenbruch,
he gets a passion to paint beaches, shellfishing and horses who
pull fishingboats on the beach. He also stays in Katwijk,
probably because he doesn't like the house in Blaricum anymore.
Shortly after that he settles in a house in Laren, which belonges
to painter Lelieveld. Next to the house he builts a huge
workshop with a little space for his ' Gooise ' interior paintings.
In this workshop he paints a lot of shores, he even buys the white
horse ' Jan ' to pose together with the, as a shellfisher dressed up,
smith. Evert Pieters leaves his house regularly to paint sunny,
colourfull images of landscapes, people and children in his garden.
These works are the most beautiful of his collection.
The ' Gooise ' interiors aren't his most
important works, they are also not his artistic highlight. But it
must be said that Evert Pieters has a lot of success with them in
the States. In 1910 he travels to Milwaukee and is welcomed by
Samuel O. Buckner as " the greatest of Dutch painters ".
Parties, drinks, musicnights and diners take place all because
of him. During Worldwar I, Evert Pieters as so many others stays
in England for a short period. Pieters as a famous ' Gooise '
painter has friends like ' Jacob Dooijewaard '. In ' Gooi ' there is
an atmosphere he is familiar with and in which he feels comfortable.
He dies there as one of the most famous artists of the
' Larense kunstenaarsbent ' at the age of 76.
His works are kept in the ' Royal Academy
of Fine Arts ' in Antwerp, the ' Townhall of Brasschaat ', the
' Rijksmuseum ' of Bilderbeek-Lamaison in Dordrecht, the museum of
' Frans Hals ' in Haarlem, the ' Goois Museum ' in Hilversum, the
' Singer Museum ' in Laren and also musea in Barcelona, Den Haag
and Toledo. A lot of his works are also purchased by private collectors.
