Aad de Haas: artist & human

In daylight he worked on his paintings and drawings to concentrate on his graphics in the evening by artificial light.

In this exhibition SCHUNCK takes you along the four stylistic periods of De Haas by means of various paintings from the collection and photos of murals. After the early period in the forties, characterized by doezelig painted fairytale-like panels with fragile figures and everyday objects, De Haas introduces his expressionist period in the fifties. During this period he painted with violent brushstrokes in mainly black, red, white and yellow on large panels, several times connecting religious themes with eroticism. The atmosphere is often oppressive.

Fusion of styles

Typical of the paintings from the next period in the 1960s are pastel colors, red contour lines around the depicted figures and a background consisting of abstract planes. Eroticism remains an important theme, but no longer in combination with religion. The late 1960s and early 1970s mark the last period of both his artistry and his life. He paints more sedately again, in rich, intense tones and soft pastels. The theme of eroticism also predominates in this period. The styles from the three previous periods seem to merge together.

Comic strip and documentary

To give a picture of the eventful life of De Haas, Berend Vonk created a comic strip with various highs and lows especially for the exhibition. On the basis of 22 drawings, the artist's life journey is portrayed. The documentary Letters to Heaven by De Haas' granddaughter, Zorba Huisman, takes visitors 'behind the scenes' of the life of the artist and his family. Huisman is a director and documentary filmmaker.