Jan Roelf Mensinga, Dutch Fantastic Modern Etching, Jan Mensinga Old Master Style Wine Maker, Grapes, 20.C

Jan Roelf Mensinga, Dutch artist, painter, graphic printmaker, watercolor artist.
(born Leeuwarden 1924 – 1998 Amsterdam)
Education: Mensinga attended an art studies from 1954 to 1956 at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam. In 1956 and 1957 he went to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. Since 1946 Mensinga lived and worked in Amsterdam.
Jan Mensinga made still lifes, portraits and illustrations of figures and fruits. Twice he made a trip to Italy, where he became very inspired. He was a lecturer at the Academy for Drawing Teachers in Tilburg. Mensinga was also a member of the Society for the Promotion of Graphic Arts – De Grafische, the Federation of Associations of Professional Artists and Amsterdams Graphic Studio.
Jan Mensinga is one of the most important and interesting lithographs that the Netherlands produced in the twentieth century.
Jan Mensinga learned to etch and lithograph himself and later followed courses at the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam and the Royal Academy for Fine Arts in Antwerp. He was a time teacher at the Rijksakademie.
His oeuvre can sometimes be compared to one big diary; it can be read as such
He knows the technique better than anyone else and he lithographs what he experiences. He often retrieves themes from his immediate surroundings. Whoever he loves, whom he hates, you find it in his work. He made two or three lithographs a day and seldom let people pose.
He absorbed them and then drew them completely out of his mind.
The figures from his prints are often tragic, regardless of their rank or position.
Mensinga drew inspiration from his daily life, fairy tales, legends and mythology.
His fascination with and great knowledge of the Bible and Judaica Chassidic literature are always reflected in the subjects of his oeuvre.
He never printed large quantities and made his own printing ink, because the black from the store was not black enough.
Mensinga’s work is included in collections such as those of the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris and the Rijksmuseum print collection.
It was also on display in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Henriette Polak Museum in Zutphen and in places like Bratislava (Slovakia) and Lodz (Poland).

Exhibits and prizes:
Work by Mensinga was shown at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht and in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
Is dat ook een litho? Kunstlitho’s uit eigen collectie
Nederlands Steendrukmuseum – Valkenswaard
Museum Henriette Polak – Zutphen
Wild & dromerig, het fantastische werk van Jan Mensinga (1924 – 1998)
Jan Mensinga: Sprookjes, spreekwoorden en legenden in steendruk
Nederlands Steendrukmuseum – Valkenswaard