1900 Rotterdam
1974 Den Haag
Willem Hussem was born in Rotterdam in 1900 and died in The Hague in 1974. He attended the Rotterdam Academy and was taught by painter-graphic artist Dirk Nijland. In 1919 he settled in Southern France. In 1922 Hussem had his first exhibition at Rotterdam-based art dealers Unger and Van Mens, with landscapes and still lifes. After 1933 he visited France for the second time. In Paris he met Mondrian and Picasso. After 1939 his work innovated towards abstract. In the fifties he produced paintings that seemed to emanate fry calligraphic characters. He joined the Vrij Beelden group in 1949. In the late fifties more geometric influences are discernable which, after 1965, gradually change into more clear-cut forms. His distinctions are many, including the Dutch Jacob Marisprijs for painting in 1953 and 1955. Hussem still has various exhibitions in the Netherlands.
