Jan Wiegers (Kommerzijl 1893 – 1959 Amsterdam) was a Dutch expressionist painter and one of the founders of De Ploeg in Groningen. At the age of 13, Jan Wiegers was enrolled as a student in Minerva's three-year initial course. Due to his health he had to cancel his sculpture lessons and turned to painting. He also visited the academies of Rotterdam and The Hague. In 1911 he went to Germany and became familiar with German art. Wiegers is an outspoken supporter of artistic innovation and experiment and therefore founded the Groninger De Ploeg in 1918 with a number of other painters. At that time he experimented with simplifying shapes and depicted his subjects in simple, large areas of color.
During a stay in Davos, Switzerland, where he underwent a tuberculosis treatment in 1920, he came into contact with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner through his doctor, and a close friendship developed between them that lasted until Kirchner's death in 1938. Kirchner did not see Wiegers as student, but as a friend. In Switzerland Wiegers became acquainted with Kirchner's expressionism and Goethe's color theory. Even before 1920, Wiegers experimented with various modern styles. Kirchner's inspiration probably fell on a plowed field.
His works already have exuberant colors, a bold transformation of nature and reality. The Swiss landscape occupies an important place. He also paints Groningen landscapes, nudes, still lifes, interiors and a large number of portraits. Unlike the expressionists from the Bergen School, Wiegers and de Ploegers, following the example of German Expressionism, produced a strikingly intense color palette. That group included Johan Dijkstra, Jan van der Zee, Hendrik Werkman, George Martens and his wife Alida Pott, Jacob Gerard (Job) Hansen, Jan Altink, J.G. Jordens and Ekke Abel Kleima.
Wiegers received invitations for exhibitions in Paris and Antwerp in 1922. In 1923 he became chairman of De Ploeg and later deputy secretary. After 1927 his style changes. The large, clearly defined areas of color make way for a more fluid, moderate expressionism. In 1930 he resigned as a member for a year due to a conflict. In 1934 he left Groningen and went to Amsterdam to live and work there, but continued to exhibit at De Ploeg until 1948. In Amsterdam he enjoyed a certain fame as one of the most important representatives of expressionism and is a much sought-after portrait painter; At the same time, his painting style became less exuberant, the forms more traditional and less rhythmic and the use of color more sober. He was appointed professor at the Rijksakademie in 1953, and died there in 1959 at the age of 66. Wieger's work was frequently exhibited, both in the Netherlands and abroad. He is considered one of the most important modernists in our country and the most modern of the Ploeg.
Jan Wiegers-Frauenkirch-1920 -Groninger Museum
