Karel Bleijenberg

Bleijenberg was a student of Joop Kropff and Henk Meijer. He received his education at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague. He lived in Amsterdam and Paris for a while, but after 1937 he settled permanently in The Hague.

He initially painted and watercoloured colourful landscapes and harbours in the south of France and Spain, views of villages, ships on the beach, portraits and a few still lifes. Later he moved on to a more abstract expression. Karel Bleijenberg is particularly known for his Cobra-like paintings, Bleijenberg has made many abstract works, and works of strange faces.

Bleijenberg was a member of the Posthoorn Group, Haagse Kunstkring and Pulchri Studio. He is considered to belong to “the new Hague school”.

The New Hague School consisted of three groups: Verve (1951-1957) with mainly modern figurative art, Fugare (1960-1967) with more emphasis on non-figurative art and the Posthoorn Group (1956-1962) which operated at the dividing line between both groups.