The Dutch Courier
is a monthly
publication,
published on behalf
of the Associated
Netherlands
Societies in
Victoria Inc.
JAN VAN FUCHT,
a man of many talents.
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A year or so went by and Jan and his family were back in Holland again. This time Jan found work at the Netherlands Opera and after meeting an Australian colleague, was offered a job in Munchen, Germany, where he was to create scenery for an Australian Ballet production which also included an trip back to Australia. On his return to Holland Jan was employed at the Rotterdam City Theatre, became a member of a Guild and took part in an exhibition in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.
The family moved a few more times and finally to Australia again. Today Jan spends most of his time in his studio, free to paint whatever he likes. He hopes to develop his abstract paintings, which are not only very beautiful but full of meaning. One of his paintings was interpreted as follows: “….a surrealist landscape with ruined skeletal fragments of what might have been buildings or some man made structure. There are four nudes. Leah is in the most prominent position, with blackened shapes like burned out steel objects piled on the ground at her feet, with delicate white shapes coming out of it like a flower of hope.”
Jan’s abstract paintings display his skills as a draught’s man, they have a three dimensional quality and combined with his imagination and originality, they are visually and intellectually challenging and stimulating. He combines elements of symbolism and surrealism and uses exquisite colours in the depiction and development of ideas. Jan may be nearly eighty years old, but he has plenty of creative energy and new ideas to keep him painting and busy for many years to come. Quoting Jan: “I still hope to create my master-piece. My abstract work provides so many opportunities so: ‘stoppen is er niet bij’ “stopping is not a consideration“ Landscapes, streetscapes, still-lives, coastal scenes, stage sets, nudes, realism, portraits, abstracts, symbolism, surrealism, miniatures and gigantic paintings are all in a days work for Jan. No doubt the drawing classes he attended as a boy stood him in good stead no time is wasted trying to figure out how something has to be done. The students in his art classes at Clayton are fortunate to have such an experienced artist as their teacher. Keep well Jan, we look forward to seeing the next stage of your creative output!
