Interested in Els Bisschop’s art?

Little more than a year ago the Dutch Els Bisschop (1942) started drawing. The day after she visited an exhibition, in the Spring of 2001, she gathered all her guts, took a sheet of paper and began. Family and friends were very positive, if not thrilled and stimulated her to go on and exhibit her work. And so she did. Her husband designed a professional web site and therefore people all over the world could get a glimpse of Bisschop’s artistic achievements. 

The first sheet of paper happened to be black. Bisschop chose children as subject and chalk as material. Originally she used very little colour.

An example from that period is “Child with Cat’. The spectator sees a caricature of a child that holds a cat by the neck. It brings a smile to one’s face. On second sight, however, the viewer realises the cruel side of the story.  Who dares to blame the young innocent child? Who does not feel sympathy for the cat?

Strong lining

Bisschop’s style might be naiv; the result is realistic because many of her drawings confront us with questions and mixed feelings, like life itself.

All Bisschop’s drawings are characterised by a strong lining from which all of a sudden one or more figures emerge. They not only show an explosion of creativity but also a phenomenal spacious skill.

Nowadays Bisschop is using more colours, other drawing material, such as charcoal, paint and other sorts of chalk and the variety in subjects has grown substantially.

About the artist

Bisschop spent part of her life in the east of Holland and part of her youth in Amsterdam. She is now living in an old, beautiful city between the banks of two big rivers. On the north side of Zaltbommel there is the Waal, that originates from the Rhine.  The Waal is said to be the busiest waterway in Europe. The Meuse is flowing on the south side of Zaltbommel.The city lies in the region of the Netherlands where part of the so-called Delta works took place. These works started after a big flood in 1953 in which many people lost their life. All the dikes had to be lifted and even more after a severe treat of flooding in February 1995. Zaltbommel houses quite a few artists of many disciplines who love the old Dutch landscape. Many of them open their doors for the public several times a year.

Until Bisschop started to draw her life was focused on her family and work. Together with her husband she raised a boy and two girls. Apart from that she was an infant teacher for many years. She still adores young children, “especially the ones who don’t believe the moon is made of cream”, she says.

Koningin Wilhelminaweg 55, 5301GG  Zaltbommel
Telefoon 0418-513924   Email els.bisschop@bisarts.com