Background

Marie Cecile Thijs was born on December 27, 1964, in Heerlen, Limburg, Netherlands.

Education

Marie Cecile Thijs developed an interest in photography as a teenager.

After receiving a VWO diploma from Bernardinus College in 1978, Thijs studied fashion at the Academy of Art and Design St. Joost in Breda for a year. Then, Thijs shifted to Leiden University. She graduated in 1989. The same year, Marie Cecile Thijs took part in an exchange program at the University of Florida.

Career

Marie Cecile Thijs began her career as a lawyer first serving as an attorney at law in an independent law firm Nauta Dutilh, Rotterdam in 1989. She occupied a similar post at the Courts of Justice, The Hague five years later. Fascinated by photography since her teens, Marie Cecile changed the field of activity at the end of the 1990s.

Since then, Thijs has created a significant number of minimalistic portraits and still lifes that reframe the traditional, historical approach to the genres using modern tools and techniques. The result of such combination, the futuristic images have been gathered in many series, including White Collar, Food Portraits, Amazones, Flowers, Birds & Vases, Majestic and Human Angels among others. The series is constantly updated by the artist.

Thijs have shown her works in solo and group exhibitions in her native Netherlands and around the world, including United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Mexico. The first retrospective of the photographer was held at the Museum aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht in 2015. Thijs has also participated in such art fairs like Art New York, Photo London, Art Miami, Zona Maco Mexico, Art Elysées Paris, TEFAF Maastricht and PAN Amsterdam.

Achievements

• 

  Marie Cecile Thijs is an accomplished artist whose photos are praised for the sense of humor and elegance they transmit at a time.
  
  Thijs’s works are acquired by the permanent collections of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Museum Rotterdam, the Museum of Photographic Arts San Diego (MOPA), the National Museum of History and Art in Luxembourg (MNHA), the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond (VMFA) and many public and private art collections.
  
  Thijs has received the first prize at the International Photography Masters Cup and was bestowed a photo prize by the curator of the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago.
  
  In 2018, ‘The Girl with the Bearded Dragon’ by Marie Cecile Thijs was purchased at Stahl Auction House for $4,003.

Works

More photos

• photography

  • Bird & Cage

  • Tudor Rose

  • Cactus

  • Matzes

  • Flying Flower with Bird

  • Cat with White Collar VIII

  • Dandelion Rose

  • Boy with White Collar I

  • Cat with the White Collar VI

  • Black Unicorn

  • Citrus and Glass

  • Tulips and Two Vases

  • Octopus

  • Enjoying Free Water

  • Girl with the Silver Cape

  • East meets West

  • Dutch Cheeses

  • Black Olives and Olive Oil

  • Silent Thought

  • Grand Cru Classé

  • The Taster

  • Asparagus II

Views

Marie Cecile Thijs takes inspiration for her futuristic images in the art of the Golden Age in terms of color palette and light.

References

• Marie Cecile Thijs's Official Website