Theodorus Bitter (The Hague 1916 –1994) was a versatile Dutch graphic artist, painter and draftsman who is considered a member of the New Hague School. Bitter trained at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, where Henk Meijer (1884-1970) and Arnold Smith were his teachers. Later from 1946-1960 he himself taught at the same academy.

He worked in The Hague, Oslo, Lecce and later again in The Hague, where he lived in the Artiestenhofje on Trompstraat. He painted, drew and watercolored family portraits in a naive realistic style; fishermen at sea in an abstract expressionist style; landscapes in abstract style and figures in neo-abstract style.

Madame Bitter-1946-RKD

Bitter was co-founder of Verve and Fugare, which also included the painters Jan van Heel, Willem Hussem and Jaap Nanninga. He was also a member of the Pulchri Studio and the Hague Watercolourists. He often collaborated with Dirk Bus and received the Jacob Maris Prize for painting in 1949. He also made sets for the Haagsche Comedie, textile designs and book illustration.