Arent Ronda
- born: 12 October 1922, Zuidlaren,
Drenthe, the Netherlands
- 1939 to 1941, 1945 & 1946, artschool
Kunstakademie Minerva, Groningen, Groningen, the
Netherlands
- co-founder and member of the Drents Schildersgenootschap
- author: Experimentele Expressie:
Een methode voor artistieke vorming, Lintel, Den
Haag, 1962
- died: 30 December 1986, Zuidlaren,
Drenthe, the Netherlands
[ see arent ronda ancestry
for details about Arent Ronda's ancestry ]
Zijn werk vertoonde meteen al een duidelijke
hang naar vrijheid, wat zich
vooral in een Fauvistische kleur openbaarde.
De vormgeving was naturalistisch, met een sterk
expressiviteit en een lichte neiging tot impressie,
wat zich vooral uitte in zijn Drentse landschappen,
portretten en stadsgezichten en in de schilderijen,
die hij in Frankrijk maakte, waar hij ook enige
tijd verbleef in het gebied van de Yonne.
In het begin van de vijftiger jaren verhuisde
hij van Zuidlaren naar de stad Groningen. Daar
onderging zijn werk een groei naar abstractie,
die vooral gestimuleerd werd in die richting,
doordat hij als adviseur optrad bij een verffabriek
in Groningen. Zijn proefnemingen met verfstoffen en
samenstellingen voor die firma leidden hem mede in zijn
eigen werk tenslotte tot pure experimentele abstractie.
Evert Musch (a fellow member
of the Drents Schildersgenootschap) in his obituary [ view complete obituray ]
[ His work quickly demonstrated a clear taste for
freedom, which revealed itself above all in a Fauvist
approach to colour. The early compositions were naturalistic,
with a pronounced expressivity and a nod to impressionism.
This made itself felt in his Drentse landscapes,
portraits and cityscapes, and in the paintings he made in
France, where he spent some time in the area of Yonne. • In
the early nineteen-fifties he moved from Zuidlaren (Drenthe,
the Netherlands) to Groningen. There his work underwent an
evolution toward abstraction, stimulated by the fact that
he worked as an advisor to a paint factory. His tests for this
firm, of mixtures and materials for making paints, were a contributing
factor to his eventual move to a purely abstract experimental
expression. ]
Free translation by Peter Enneson
see the entry for Arent Ronda in:
Scheen, Pieter A.
Lexicon Nederlandse beeldende
kunstenaars 1750 – 1950.
’S-Gravenhage Kunsthandel Pieter A.
Scheen, 1969 – 70
see the page for Arent Ronda in:
Documentatie Groninger kunstenaars:
deel 1
Groninger Museum, 1972
_______________________________________
Paintings
Stadsgezicht
( private collection )
Zuidhavenpoort,
Zierikzee, Zeeland with draw-bridge
actual size:
35" x 18.5" [ 89 cm x 47 cm ]
[ view larger image ] [view a postcard of the same location
]
Boerenerf ( private
collection )
actual size ; 39.5" x 28" [ 100 cm x 71 cm]
date: 1947
[ view larger image ]
Woonwagen Kamp [ Zuidlaren ]
(
scanned from an exhibition notice )
Landscape with Cows ( private
collection )
Magnuskerk in Anloo in the background
actual size: 25" x 18.5" [ 63.5
cm x 47 cm ]
[ view larger image ]
Landscape with Cows ( private
collection )
actual size: 13" x 11" [ 33 cm x 28 cm ]
1947
[ view larger image ]
Korenveld bij Noordlaren ( private
collection )
actual size: 23.5" x 15.5" [ 60 cm x 40 cm ]
[ view larger image ]
Dunes Around Zuidlaren ( private
collection )
actual size: 12" x 10.5" [ 30.5 cm
x 26.5 cm ]
1939
( at 17 years of age )
the Drentsche AA near Schipborg ( private
collection )
the Drentsche AA is a small
river running from Drenthe to Groningen between Zuidlaren
and Haren
actual size: 19.75" x 17.75" [ 50
cm x 45 cm ]
1945, oil
on board
[ view larger image ]
[ view a postcard of the
Drentsche AA near Schipborg ]
Still Life ( private
collection )
1943, oil
on canvas
[ view larger image ]
Still Life ( private
collection )
actual size: 26.5" x 23.5" [ 67 cm
x 60 cm ]
1947, oil
on canvas
[
view larger image ]
Jantina Catharina Maria Ronda ( b. 1933 )
( private collection )
1947, oil
on canvas
[ view larger image ]
Rennie Noteboom ( b. 1934 ) ( private
collection )
1953, oil
on canvas
[ view larger image ]
Portrait — subject unknown ( private
collection )
oil on canvas
[ view larger image ]
Portrait — subject unknown ( private
collection )
oil on canvas
[ view larger image ]
Stadsgezicht, de Brink, Assen ( private
collection )
actual size: 23.25" x 18.5" [ 59 cm
x 47 cm ]
1947, oil
on canvas
[ view larger image ]
Rural Scene 1 ( private
collection )
1943, oil
on canvas
[ view larger image ]
Rural Scene 2 ( private
collection )
actual size: 34" by 22" [ 86
cm x 56 cm ]
1952, oil
on canvas
[ view larger image ]
Dordogne, France ( private
collection )
actual size: 35.5" x 33.5" [ 90 cm
x 85 cm ]
1954, oil
on canvas
[ view larger image ]
France ( private
collection )
1950s, oil
on canvas
[ view larger image ]
Portrait, Princess Irene of the Netherlands
( located on the internet )
actual size: 25.5" x 35.5" [ 65 cm
x 90 cm ]
oil on canvas
[ view
larger image ]
Rennie Noteboom ( located
on the internet )
Arent Ronda’s wife; Rennie Noteboom was an artist in her own right
about 1975,
oil on canvas
[
view larger image ]
Theo Noteboom ( located
on the internet )
Arent Ronda’s father-in-law
oil on canvas
[ view
larger image ]
Composition ( private collection
)
actual size: 16" x 23" [ 40.5 cm x
58.5 cm ]
oil on canvas
[ view
larger image ]
Composition ( private
collection )
actual size: 39" x 27.5" [ 100 cm x 70 cm ]
[ view larger image ]
Composition (private collection
)
actual size: 30" x 24" [ 76 cm x 62 cm ]
[ view larger image ]
Composition ( collection:
Kornelis and Francine Kolstein )
[
view larger image ]
Composition ( Private collection
)
actual size: 39" x 27.5" [ 100 cm x 70 cm ]
[ view larger image ]
Composition ( Private collection
)
actual size: 22" x 23.5" [ 56 cm x 60 cm ]
[ view larger image ]
Composition ( Private collection
)
actual size: 20" x 20" [ 50 cm x 50 cm ]
[ view larger image ]
Composition ( private collection
)
actual size: 23.5" x 15.75" [ 60 cm
x 40 cm ]
1970
[ view larger image ]
_______________________________________
Mural
Composition ( location : Christian School,
Zuidlaren )
[ view larger image ]
_______________________________________
Watercolours
Drents impression ( collection:
Kornelis and Francine Kolstein )
1938 ( at 16 years of age )
[ view larger image ]
Plowing ( private
collection )
actual size : 21" x 14" [ 53 cm x 35.5 cm ]
1945 ; watercolour on paper
[ view larger image ]
Man fishing ( private
collection )
actual size : 18" x 12" [ 45 cm x 30.5 cm ]
1940 ; watercolour on paper
[ view larger image ]
_______________________________________
Drawings and sketches
Noordlaren, Drenthe ( private
collection )
Arent
was an ‘onderduiker’ ( person in hiding ) during WWII
1941
[ view larger image ]
Drentse AA ( private
collection )
actual size : 11" x 18" [ 28 cm x 45 cm ]
1942 ; Pencil on paper
[ view larger image ]
Skull ( private
collection )
Pen and ink
1942
[ view larger image ]
Field wth labourers ( private
collection )
1945 ; Pencil on paper
actual size: 17.5" x 6.75"
[ 44.5 cm x 17 cm ]
[ view larger image ]
Pieter Ronda ( private
collection )
Pieter
Ronda, an elementary school teacher in Zuidlaren
was the artist's father
actual
size: 8.5" x 12" [ 21.5
cm x 30.5 cm ]
[ view larger image ]
Mello Nieuwenhuis ( private
collection )
Mello
Nieuwenhuis is the brother of Annie Nieuwenhuis. Annie Nieuwenhuis became
the wife of Arent’s brother Jaap.
[ view larger image ]
Playing Checkers ( private
collection )
foreground,
left to right: Enno Ennema, Trijntje Westera
/ Ronda
background,
left to right: Trijntje Ronda / Ennema, Pieter
Ronda
actual
size: 8.5" x 12" [
21.5 cm x 30.5 cm ]
1947
[ view larger image ]
Untitled ( private
collection )
medium:
wax crayons
actual
size: 16" x 12" [
40.5 cm x 30.5 cm ]
[ view larger image ]
Enno Ennema ( private
collection )
medium:
charcoal on paper
actual
size: 19.5" x 25" [ 49.5
cm x 63.5 cm ]
[ view larger image ]
_______________________________________
From the sketchbooks of Arent Ronda
A selection of figure studies, landscape studies, sketches and
preliminary sketches.
1943
1945
1960
1986
_______________________________________
Woodcuts
Gevangenen ( private
collection )
1943
At the station ( Vries / Zuidlaren; private
collection )
actual size : 8.5" x 6" [ 21.5 cm x 15.25 cm ]
1942
[ view larger image ]
_______________________________________
Shows
one-man shows
1942
Berenhuis, Groningen [ view a review by C. Redam ]
1947
kunstzaal de Gier, Amsterdam
1950
galerie de Mangelgang, Groningen
1969
galerie O, Onderdendam
1970
Helderse Kunstiga, Den Helder
Hoorn
group
shows
from
1945 Drents Schildersgenootschap exhibitions
_______________________________________
Student Work
Still Life with Ginger Pot ( private
collection )
medium:
oil on canvas
[ view larger image ]
_______________________________________
Experimentele Expressie
‘Experimentele Expressie’ veronderstelt het experimenteren met
wezenlijke, artistieke kenmerken
in de eigen beeldtaal van een leeftijdsgroep
op basis van een zuiver gebruik van het uitdrukkingsmiddel.
[ Experimental Expression has as it's basis
the experimentation, through a pure use of the
medium, with distinctive artistic features in the figurative
language unique to a specific age-group. ]
Arent Ronda
— From the introduction to Experimentele
Expressie: Een Methode voor artistieke
vorming
_______________________________________
Ronda family photographs
Alle, Trijntje, Arent and Jaap Ronda
Arent,
the youngest of four children, is in the foreground
on the left;
beside
Arent in the foreground is his brother Jaap (Jacob
Wibbes);
behind
them are their step-brother Alle and their step-sister
Trijntje
( all three of Arent's siblings emigrated to Canada in the
early 1950s )
1920s
In front of the original family home on ( Verlengde )
Stationsweg, Zuidlaren
Jaap
Ronda and Arent Ronda;
behind them Trijntje Westera, mother of Jaap and
Arent
On the pastures around Zuidlaren
Trijntje
Ronda, Jaap Ronda and Arent Ronda
Arent at nine years old and Jaap at
eleven
1931
( foto Steenmeijer, Heerestraat
421, Groningen )
Arent Ronda and Tante Tiet
Tante Tiet[sia] ( Trijntje Susanna Westera
) was a stepsister
of
Arent's mother Trijntje Westera
1930s
Arent Ronda at 15 years of age
1937 ( foto Steenmeijer, Heerestraat 421, Groningen
)
Arent with a friend or fellow art
student
late 1930s
Arent as an art-school student
1940s; Arent is on the left
Arent among his classmates in art-school
1940s; Arent is seated third from left in the front row
Arent, possibly in Zuidlaren or Groningen
Arent, time and place unknown
Arent playing the lute
at right, his step-sister Trijntje Ronda / Ennema,
1956 or 1958
at
the time Arent was living in Groningen
Arent at his easel ca. 1965 / 1966 in ‘Rust
een weinig’
_______________________________________
contact: Peter Enneson
e-mail: penneson@sympatico.ca
last updated: December 25,
2006
thanks to Francine Kolstein for
help with titles
and the spelling of Dutch
language text;
to Ankie de
Vries / Boonstra for contacts, scans,
and digital
images of many of the works from Dutch sources;
and to all others who supplied information and images.