Jannes de Vries - Joseph and Mary in the cave.

Jannes de Vries (Meppel 1901 – Groningen 1986) Painter, designer, drawing teacher. Descended from a family of Zuiderzee skippers. At the age of thirteen, he worked at a law firm in Meppel and at the age of fifteen he was involved in the founding of the Meppel association 'Art and Friendship'. Trained in Amsterdam in 1918 at the State Normal School for Drawing Teachers, De Vries then studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He made study trips to Italy, North Africa, Scandinavia and Spain. From 1925 to 1966 he was a drawing teacher at the Praedinius Gymnasium in Groningen. He was a member of the Groningen art circle De Ploeg. At work in Paris At work in Paris His work is figurative and very expressive. Biblical themes and Groningen landscapes were favorites, before the war in a sober color palette, then increasingly colorful. As a graphic designer he made book illustrations and advertising packaging (including the Tjoklat tin). In 1970 De Vries received the cultural prize for painting from the province of Groningen. In the autumn of 1986, the Drents Museum organized a major retrospective of his work. Jannes de Vries settled in Groningen in 1924 after traveling through Africa. Here he joined De Ploeg. To support himself, he became a drawing teacher at the Stedelijk Gymnasium. De Vries' work initially showed a subdued expressionism that also betrays influences from the post-impressionist Paul Cézanne. His Groningen landscapes are characterized by expressive brushwork, often high horizons, trademark of many Ploeg landscapes, and menacing skies.