Biography

From 1892 to 1894 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and Technical Sciences in Rotterdam. In 1897 he moved to Paris. The following year, van Dongen returned to Rotterdam. There he attended evening courses at the academy, where he met Augusta Preitinger, his future wife. Kees van Dongen was initially influenced by Impressionism, following Claude Monet, the co-founder of the Impressionist style. He then turned to the Paris Fauves. In 1905 he joined the Group du Bateau-Lavoir. The group of artists, which included the poet and critic Guillaume Apollinaire (Wilhelm Apollinaris de Kostrowitzky), the painters Georges Braque, Juan Gris (José Victoriano González Pérez), Pablo Picasso and the American writer Gertrude Stein, was founded in 1904. Its name goes back to an old tenement house in Montmartre in which many artists had their apartments.

With Picasso's painting "Demoiselle d'Avignon" in 1907, cubism emerged in the Groupe du Bateau-Lavoir. In 1899 he left Rotterdam and settled in Paris. Numerous participations in exhibitions followed. Later he was also able to present his work in solo exhibitions. In 1905 he took part in the exhibition of Henri Matisse, André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck and other artists at the Paris Salon d'Automne, from which the Fauves emerged. In 1908 he accepted an invitation through the German painter and graphic artist Max Beckmann, and van Dongen took part in the exhibition of the Dresden artist group "Die Brücke" in the Emil Richter art gallery. There his pictures were presented at an exhibition on contemporary art in France. The following year, 1909, he became a member of the "Brücke". Kees van Dongen's attempt to bring artists from the "Brücke" to the 25th exhibition of the Societé des Artistes Indépendants failed. In 1910 he traveled to Italy, Spain and Morocco. Two years later he held a teaching position at the Académie Vitti in Montparnasse. The following year he traveled to Egypt. In 1914 he returned to the Netherlands. He stayed there until 1917.

In 1921, van Dongen traveled to Venice. In 1926 he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor. The following year his book entitled "Van Dongen raconte ici la vie de Rembrandt et parle, à ce propos, de la Hollande, des Femmes et de l'art" was published. In the Fauvist phase, van Dongen's works were characterized by a dynamic sensualism and glowing colors, which he applied thickly. He executed his lines in a clear but ornamental manner. He looked for his motifs in artistic scenes, which depict nudes of dancers and actresses. Kees van Dongen undertook his second trip to Egypt in 1928. The following year he became a French citizen. In 1935 his travel plans took him to the USA. In 1942 he traveled to Berlin with André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck and other artists. In 1957, van Dongen left Paris and moved to Monaco, but he left his studio in Paris. In his creative work after 1918, van Dongen realized his pictures as decorative splendors that reflect life in the 1920s and 1930s.

Cornelis Theodorus Marie (Kees) van Dongen died on May 28, 1968 in Monaco.
- IMDb mini biography by: Christian_Wolfgang_Barth