Jan Roëde

Jan Roede (Groningen, 1914-2007) grew up in The Hague, the Netherlands. After a short period in advertising he started painting in 1941. From 1946 through 1948 he lived in Sweden and France alternately, where he had a number of successful solo-exhibitions. In 1948 he was invited to take part in the exhibition Vrije Beelden (‘Free Images’) in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Although his works from that period – influenced by Klee, Miro and Picasso – had connections to Cobra, he decided not to join this group. Yet he was invited for the 1950 exhibition Nieuwe stromingen in de beeldende kunst (‘New movements in visual arts’) in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Around his time he moved back to The Hague, where he would live and work for the rest of his life.