Discover the Dutch Artist Who Painted Internationally
A collection of available oil paintings
An Extended Biography of the Artist
Bob Gésinus was born in Haarlem, the Netherlands on 22 June 1898. He died in Cannes, France on 5 January 1978.
Gésinus began his studies of art at the National Art Academy of the Hague and apprenticed with the noted painters Jules Pascin and Rudolph Levy. As a result of his contact with other artists of that time, he became influenced by European Impressionism. In 1927 he had his first Dutch exhibition in the Gallery DuBois in Haarlem as member of the Art Vivant group which included fauvists and cubists artists. In the same year he exhibited at the Gallery Raspail in Paris in a major show of the “Art Vivant” group that included Picasso, Braque, Pascin, Utrillo, Vlamink and other notable painters of the period.
By 1929 Gésinus moved to Berlin where he participated with Carel Willink and Pyke Koch in an exhibition that made history launching a new Magic Realism movement that flourished in the 1930’s. Visiting his native country, the Netherlands, he participated in the Internationale Schilderijen Tentoonstelling of Rotterdam in 1930. At this time a Dutch painter, Herman Bieling, contacted and invited him to discuss plans for a major international exhibit of modern painters. Gésinus enthusiastically agreed and became one the organizers of the 1932 Bijenkorf International Exhibition that included works by Picasso, Renoir, Pascin, Kokoschka, Chagall, Derain, Utrillo, Leger, Braque, Vlaminck and Gésinus. This exhibition was hugely successful becoming a major attraction to art lovers in Europe of that time. In 2002 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the opening of this historical exhibit, the Chabot Museum in Rotterdam, launched an exhibit that included many of the painters in the original exhibit and resulted in a Gésinus painting becoming a part of the Museum’s permanent collection.
Gésinus also exhibited at the famous Thannhauser Gallery and at the Gallerie Flechtheim in Düsseldorf, Germany. Bob befriended Alfred Flechtheim, an influential art dealer and art collector who helped young and promising artists resulting in Gésinus being asked to participate in an exhibit with contemporary artists at the Witten Museum. Shortly thereafter, contemporary art in Germany was labelled “degenerate” by the Nazis. This signaled the end of an artistic boom period in Germany. As a result Bob Gésinus first moved to France where in 1936 he exhibited at the Zak Gallery and then to Spain. While in France through Alfred Flechtheim he connected with Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, one of the most notable French art dealers of the 20th century who exhibited and purchased Bob’s art.
As Europe was unstable and dangerous for artists, Gésinus, moved to South America embracing business connections through his wife Elizabeth Boettiger. During his years in South America he resided in Bolivia, Chile and Peru where he painted landscapes, still lifes and portraits which were exhibited in Lima, Peru and Buenos Aires, Argentina. While in Lima he painted a portrait in 1959 that is undoubtedly one of his masterpieces, the “Portrait of the Duquesa Christina Galvez de Mendoza.” While living in Bolivia he became Consul General of Holland, representing the Dutch government in exile.
In 1949, following the end of the war, he returned to France where he settled in Menton in the Côte d’Azur where he painted many landscapes inspired by the beauty of Provence and its countryside. This was a very fruitful period in his life. It was also the beginning of an association with the Wildenstein galleries, an extensive network of galleries who promoted Gésinus with exhibitions in Paris, Buenos Aires, London and New York.
As Europe began a new period of stable governments and economic prosperity, Gésinus decided to move back to Germany in the late 1950’s where he settled in Munich. In 1963 Gésinus exhibited at the Gallerie des Beaux Arts and other French galleries that emphasized the post-cubist tradition characteristic of the École de Paris in that period. An art critic wrote an article, “Gésinus a Powerful Master” which appeared in ARTS (27 November 1963) stating: “His paintings have an incomparable originality. One notes the precise perfection of his style which reflects a formal reality of our sensible world. The artist projects a profusion of themes that reflect force and personality. His are living – vivant- paintings of lively colors orchestrated masterfully.”
In 1971 Gésinus returned to his native country, the Netherlands, buying a house in the historical center of Maastricht, where he also had a gallery. At the time this beautiful town was experiencing a boom as an artistic and meeting center.
In 1973, Gésinus had a major solo exhibition at the London Wildenstein Gallery. Rolf Linnenkamp writing in the catalogue of this exhibit said: “Gésinus has proved his unbroken feeling for realism. To connoisseurs, pictures bearing the signature ‘Gésinus’ are somewhat like goods with a trademark…showing an elegant mixture of self-confidence, ease and solidity which constitute the secret of his success.”
Bob Gésinus died in Cannes, France on 5 January 1978.