Sophia Maria Westendorp was born in Zaltbommel on 17 December 1916…
Perhaps Holland's greatest illustrator, Fiep Westendorp quirky,
vibrant drawings spent half a century in the center of mainstream Dutch cultural life. She started out as a newspaper illustrator, but made her name drawing and painting a series of homespun books for young people by Annie M.G. Schmidt.Fiep and Annie's friendship began the moment they met in Café Scheltema…
Of all the books Fiep Westendorp has illustrated, only a handful were written by Annie M.G. Schmidt. Yet the two women's work is inextricably linked. Fiep's individual and often humorous drawings complement Annie's writing perfectly.Their collaboration lasted more than forty years and began in 1952 on the children's page of the newspaper Het Parool with the adventures of Yip and Yannika. The books came later.
Fiep's illustrations helped make Tow-Truck Pluck and Odette classics of Dutch children's literature. Her work is immediately recognizable to all. Both text and illustration have proven timeless.
Fifty years on, Fiep and Annie are still the twin mothers of the Netherlands' most famous and most popular pre-schoolers: Jip and Janneke.
Fiep Westendorp died, after a short illness, on 3 February 2004, at the age of 87.
Fiep Westendorp transferred the intellectual property rights of her entire oeuvre to a foundation: the Stichting Fiep Westendorp.The objectives of this non-commercial foundation are:- the annual award of a grant to a young and promising illustrator, in order to enable him or her to execute a special project, and– the support of projects with the aim of improving the linguistic and cultural development of children by visual or audiovisual means.
visit Annie MG Schmidt en Fien Westendorp probably the most famous childrens author and illustrator of the Netherlands.
2 + Comments:
im dutch and grew up with jip en janneke. love the stories eventho they are a bit 'oldfashioned' in places. the drawings are awesome and the colors so beautiful.
recently this book was rereleased and it's gorgeous, story wise and the drawings are sweet. check it out, it's about a fantasy animal and very sweet: http://www.fiepwestendorp.nl/nieuwsitem.php?id=15
How nice! a post about Fiep here. I live in Zaltbommel the Netherlands! I just coincedently stumbeled onto this site. In Zaltbommel we have a statue of Jip and Janneke. And i often walk by the house where Fiep was born.
Post a Comment
Home