22 facts about Rien Poortvliet

Rien Poortvliet (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrinˈpoːrtflit]; 7 August 1932 – 15 September 1995) was a Dutch draughtsman and painter.

Born in Schiedam, he was best known for his drawings of animals and for “Gnomes” in the well-known series of books provided with text by Wil Huygen and published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. of New York City.

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Being a plasterer’s son from Schiedam, making a busy as an performer did not seem an substitute for Rien Poortvliet. His parents were strict followers of the Dutch Reformed Church and were anti the idea of their oldest son going to an art academy.

Rien’s capability for drawing showed before on. After primary education the youthful Rien worked at an ad agency, where he could make some use of his talent. He furthermore had power for the advertising profession because after he had completed his draft times in the Navy he rose to senior officer at Lintas, Unilever’s ad agency.

Rien took more pleasure in the acquit yourself he did upon the side for several publishers. He illustrated various books, among them works by Jaap ter Haar, Leonard Roggeveen [nl] and Godfried Bomans. He was next a eager hunter, which led him to drawing various natural world subjects.

By the subside of the 1960s, Poortvliet was able to make a booming as an independent illustrator. To auxiliary his income, he made a book out of his drawings and watercolours based on his hunting experiences. Later on, he plus made a similar work in tab to the activity of Jesus Christ.

Poortvliet proverb himself as a storyteller in drawings. His drawings told the tale, and at most he further a rude caption.

For years his works were published by Van Holkema en Warendorf in Bussum, where his “Leven en werken van de Kabouter” (co-authored by Wil Huygen, English title is “Gnomes”) saw an astonishing 59 printings. With the Gnomes series Poortvliet acquired international fame. This series took on a energy of its own, and was turned into an full of life series in 1985.

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His books were translated into English, French, German, Swedish, Finnish, Spanish, Italian and additional languages.

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