I'd always assumed Gerritt Vandersyde (1898-1970) was a Dutch (or maybe Belgian) artist so I was more than surprised to discover he was actually British. He was born in Camberwell, London and although he signed his work Gerritt, his first name was actually Alfred.
These paintings of 'contemporay' children in his wonderfully colourful and unashamedly chocolate box style capture perfectly the essence of my blog. The joy and exuberance of childhood in the 1960's where the sun always shone, children played with total freedom outdoors and the world was somehow a more innocent and less complicated place.
Gerritt Vandersyde's paintings were not limited to depicting children at play. Other examples of his work, ranging from historical scenes to flamingos nesting next to a lake show what an accomplished artist he was. The next painting reminds me of an Old Master and I think shows the influence on his work of his Dutch heritage.
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| Detail from The King's Christmas Present |
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| Detail from The Canterbury Tales |
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| Detail from Pink Flamingoes |
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| Detail from Goldilocks and The Three Bears |
The Grape-Pickers of Portugal
Some of Gerritt Vandersyde's work appeared in adverts for Boots and Woolworth's in the UK so for a certain generation it may appear especially familiar.
Wow how amazing an artist was he?
ReplyDeleteHe was my.grandfather, though he died over ten years before I was born. Grandma used to still have quite a lot of pictures up until she passed away. They were lovely to look at.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness Timbo... thank you so much for leaving a comment ... how wonderful to have such a lovely heritage. I hope you still have some of his work to keep and enjoy.
ReplyDeleteHe was also our grandfather and we used to stay with him in London. We have many of his early sketches and drawings for childrens' book covers. He not only painted beautiful children but older people too. Jasmin Rowland, Lance van der Syde and Jason Gerritt van derSyde.
ReplyDeleteHi Timbo - Gerritt Vandersyde was my grandfather too and I'm working out who you are! I think your mother is Gillian or Wendy.
ReplyDeleteTo Sharon - as far as I know I'm the only one in our family who takes an interest in and collects his art. I have about six originals - three of which are not in the public domain - and several prints. Also a quantity of the artist's original sketches for his work, and some books and magazines that use his art.
Delighted to discuss further.
Yeah, my mum's Gill :-)
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