Background
Jan Schoonhoven was born as Johannes Jacobus Schoonhoven on June 26, 1914, in Delft, Netherlands.
Jan Schoonhoven at his home in Delft, the Netherlands, 1979
Jan Schoonhoven with his grandson Jan Schoonhoven Jr.
Prinsessegracht 4, 2514 AN Den Haag, the Netherlands
Royal Academy of Art in the Hague
Stadhouderslaan 41, 2517 HV Den Haag, Netherlands
Hague Municipal Museum (Gemeentemuseum Den Haag)
Bilderdijklaan 10, 5611 NH Eindhoven, Netherlands
Van Abbemuseum
Rothenburg 30, 48143 Münster, Germany
Westfälischer Kunstverein
Jan Schoonhoven was born as Johannes Jacobus Schoonhoven on June 26, 1914, in Delft, Netherlands.
Jan Schoonhoven received the training as a drawing teacher at the Royal Academy of Art in the Hague, the Netherlands which he had entered in 1930. Schoonhoven had studied at the institution for four years.
Jan Schoonhoven began his career at the Central Buildings Department in 1946. He had spent there thirty-three years devoting the evenings and all his free time to art.
The early artworks Schoonhoven created included abstract drawings and watercolors. Later, by the middle 1950s, appeared the first geometric and relief monochrome compositions made with paper. The author gave to his creations meaningless names, like relief R62-1.
In 1959, the artist took part at the formation of the Nederlandse Informele Groep (Netherlandish Informal Group) and a year later the Nul-groep (Nul Group).
Since that time, Schoonhoven began to present his artworks at various group exhibitions such as Zero-O-Nul at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag (Municipal Museum), the Hague in 1964. Three years later, he participated in the ninth São Paulo Biennale in Brazil which provided the artist with the second prize. It was the beginning of the international acclaim. In 1968, Schoonhoven exhibited at the documenta 4, in Kassel, Germany.
Along with group exhibitions, the artist held many solo shows this time, like at the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, the Netherlands (1968, 1972, and 1973). Schoonhoven also travelled to Germany where he exhibited at the Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster in 1972.
By the end of the 1970, the artist added to his early simple monochrome compositions almost calligraphic drawings made with pen and ink.
Among the retrospectives of the next decade were the expositions at the Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nuremberg, and at the Badischer Kunstverein (Baden Art Association), Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1985-86. American public had an opportunity to admire Schoonhoven’s reliefs in 1989 due to the American artist Donald Judd who had liked the art and brought it to Marfa, Texas.
T62-70
Squares
GM 19 Arcering
Combination
Untitled
R73-6
R60-27
R61-5 - Fanlight-shutters
T80-36
R 72-73-M-7
Unnumbered Print l.l.
T75-44
Relief 70-19
Zeshoeken
Quadrates Relief with Slanted inside Surfaces in 4 Directions
Square with Diagonals
Square Relief with Diagonals
Diagonal
RAD 4
Untitled
Relief
Relief R 69-1
White Structural Relief R 62-1
R 71 - 14
Liberation
Horses II
Folly
Dark Composition
R 72-33
T 79-82
Quotes from others about the person
"In some ways, Schoonhoven’s life says it all. A quiet, conscientious 30-year clerical employee of the Dutch Postal Service (whose career advancement there was thwarted by the publicity he received for having his nude body painted in polka dots by Yayoi Kusama in a 1967 performance at the Stedelijk Museum), he was also considered by many to be the most advanced and uncompromising artist in the Netherlands." Richard Kalina, author
Jan Schoonhoven was married to a woman named Anita who worked as a jazz concerts curator.
Schoonhoven’s grandson, Johannes Jacobus Schoonhoven Jr., followed his grandfather's steps and became an artist.