Wim Motz - Litho, Haven

Wim Motz was a painter and graphic artist. He was born in Rotterdam and his only education was primary school. After that he supported himself by working in various professions, such as gardener, miner, fairground traveller, market trader and house painter. His career as an artist only started at the age of 37. He took drawing lessons from Jan van Straten and worked on a huge catch-up under his guidance.
Wim Motz showed great productivity during his life. His work ethic led him from impressionism to expressionism, from pure abstraction back to recognizable reality. He put his subjects on canvas and paper with dynamism and passion. And not without success. He exhibited in America, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Initially, Motz painted non-lifelike, yet easily recognizable scenes, such as harbor and industrial views. For four years (1954-1958), he was part of the group “De vier Rotterdammers”. He then switched from figurative to total abstraction. As a member of the “Ara-groep”, he mastered the technique of lithography. In addition to color lithographs, he also made black-and-white lithographs and linocuts.
For his paintings he used a masonry technique. Just like his great example Nicolas de Staël he applied the paint to the canvas with a spatula. He was also called "Painter of colour".
In the mid-1960s he returned to figurative work.