Oil on canvas

Signed lower left

60 x 62 cm.

Frame dimensions: 75 x 77 cm.

Biography of Willem Jilts Pol

Willem Jilts Pol (Leek 1905–1988 France) was a Dutch painter, draftsman, printmaker, and art critic. He likely obtained his teaching certificate in drawing at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague and later studied in Paris. Pol painted and drew landscapes, portraits, and human figures, and he also made woodcuts.

In the 1930s, he lived in France with his wife, Anne Mees. In the late 1930s, he moved with his family to the Dutch East Indies, where their daughter was born. During World War II, Pol was interned in a Japanese camp, while his wife and daughter were in another camp. After the war, the family returned to the Netherlands, where his wife died in 1948 due to the hardships endured in the camps.

Pol returned to the Dutch East Indies, where he created several paintings with Indonesian themes. From 1948 into the 1950s, he lived in England. In 1952, he married Poppet John, the daughter of the painter Augustus John. The last decades of his life were spent in southern France, where he passed away in 1988. He left behind an extensive body of work.

Pol's work is highly recognizable due to his use of pastel colors and a quick yet precise line execution. His work is highly valued by art connoisseurs for its distinctive "1950s" design. As a critic, he was associated with the magazine "Oriëntatie.