Genk, Willem van
     | Parnasky CultureGenk, Willem vanParnasky Culture, 1972 oil on fibreboard 70 x 142 cm © photo credit Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne AuthorGenk, Willem van (1927-2005), Netherlands BiographyWillem van Genk was born in Voorburg, the Netherlands. He was subject to serious health problems, as well as behavioural problems, from a very early age. He started to draw both at school and at home, finding in this mode of expression a way of escaping from his solitary and difficult childhood. As an adolescent he was placed in an orphanage, then in a Christian arts and crafts school where he took courses in commercial art. But being incapable of adaptation, he was eventually accepted in a workshop for the mentally handicapped in The Hague. The paintings that he created at home, in his flat, involved complex cut-out and collage processes. They were directly inspired by his many journeys to the former Soviet Union, Rome, Paris, Madrid, Copenhagen, Cologne and Prague, among other places. He also drew inspiration from various guidebooks or photographs derived from his own research. Shop
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