biography

Harry van Kuyk was born in Zevenaar, the Netherlands, on March 2, 1929 in one of the severest winters of the twentieth century. His final elementary school years coincided with WWII, and were in effect a random pastime instead of a basis for subsequent training and education. Consequently in this 'spare time' he was hired by Harry Gruben, his first tutor, as an apprentice typesetter in a small printshop. This printer and typographer, pupil of the renowned Maastricht typographer Charles Nypels, taught him the first principles of this ancient profession. 'Those who have once smelled the scent of printing ink, will be hooked forever', are the words by the Groningen printer and artist H.N. Werkman; a statement very much applicable to Harry van Kuyk's future life.

     A Printers' World

A couple of years after the war and with only an apprentice certificate in the tradition of the Wandergeselle in his pocket, he left his place of birth and headed for the printer's town Haarlem. He landed himself a job as a manual typesetter with the then renowned Boom-Ruygrok, printing and publishing company; an employer who demanded more of his personnel than just a simple certificate in introductory typography.
     Despite his insufficient initial training, the Amsterdam School of Graphics made an exception for him. He was admitted under the precondition that he would get a secondary school certificate whilst going through his apprenticeship. At the same time he would earn a living with Boom-Ruygrok.
     After his studies he worked for a short while at the Valhalla of print art, the renowned and historic company Joh. Enschedé en Zonen in Haarlem. Jan van Krimpen and Sem Hartz, two typographers allied to this company, showed him the path to perfection which he envisaged in the applied form of typography.
     But he was also intrigued by graphics as a visual art. He took private lessons and he was a trainee at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam.

Subsequently, he returned to Gelderland. He worked with the publishing company De Gelderlander in Nijmegen as a designer and layout artist of the trade press department. Meanwhile, he also practiced, designing

     Linoleum (intarsia), Untitled, ca. 1960, painting, drawing, etching and photography

     Paris, 1960 (photo Harry van Kuyk).
     The Centrale Drukkerij (‘Central Printers’) in Nijmegen offered him the opportunity to work in their design and sales department, a position that he fulfilled with great enthusiasm. After the merger of the company with an advertising printer, he opted to become a freelance artist, where he could utilize his artistic abilities in graphics as a visual and independent art.

     Relief printing

Although familiar with classical and modern graphics techniques, he began experimenting with a printing technique that would go beyond embossing and blind stamping, printing without ink. In 1969 he created a kind of ‘picture’ in extreme bas-relief which he entitled ‘relief print image’

     Experimental relief print, Untitled (geometrical pattern), ca. 1969. This invention brought world-wide attention to his work. The special press which served him for nearly forty years was custom made in 1971 and subsidized by the Ministry of Culture under Minister Marga Klompé. This press is still unique.
     His relief print images were exhibited in many national and international exhibitions. In 1974, Van Kuyk was awarded the silver medal at the international biennial of graphic art in Frechen (Federal Republic of Germany). Collectors and museums acquired his work. He travelled many times to the United States for exhibitions and meetings with his collectors.

     Typography as a theme

Harry van Kuyk preferred to group his images into ‘bundles’ sharing a particular atmosphere or theme. His main theme was typography and derived abstract forms, in addition to nudes and landscapes.
     These bundles were often produced in monumental books, cassettes or portfolios, generally in limited editions. His contention about art and graphics in particular (‘art owes its existence not only to the creative process, but also to its exclusiveness’, Van Kuyk stated), made sure that his publications had a bibliophile character. Bundles, editions, or single relief prints were limited to five, ten or sometimes fifty copies. In exceptional cases and dependent on the technique, the issue was bigger (either 100 or 250).
     In addition to the numerous autonomous prints

     relief print, Untitled (piled rectangles), 1974 2/2
     Silkscreen print, Composition in black and white, 1977 8/20, dozens of ‘bundles’ were released over a period of thirty-five years; for example the internationally famous Groot Abecedarium (Great Abecedarium) (1973) inspired by the alphabet and prefaced by the Amsterdam book historian Prof. dr. G.W. Ovink. Also included in these series are: Aldus Manutius (1971), Variaties op de Sectio Aurea (Variations on the Sectio Aurea) (1972), Tangram (1975), Grafinu

     Grafinu, 1976: portfolio, 28 silkscreen prints, text (Wim Wennekes), edition of 250 (1976), Landschap (Landscape) (1980), Cijfers (Figures) (1988), Erografica (1995) and last but not least the impressive Bodoni Initiales (1993).
     With his collection of short stories entitled Gisteren. Legaat van vierentwintig uur (Yesterday. A twenty four hour legacy) (1990) and the collection of aphorisms Kunstenaarsgoed (Artist’s stuff) (2002) he moved towards books with his own writings as the focal point. Horizontaal. Liefdesbrieven aan een polder (Horizontal. Love letters to a polder) (1999) not only comprised reproductions of his drawn pastels but also a number of his poems.
     Between 1965 and 2000, he worked on various monumental pieces of art, often commissioned. Among these are linoleum intarsia’s, wood reliefs, huge minimalist mural reliefs

     Mural relief, wedding room in City Hall, Zevenaar, 1985 (photo Boucher) and a monument on the theme of education. In these same years he designed posters, logos and related print work for (art) organizations, companies and private persons.

     His later years

At the end of the ’90s he took a ‘holiday’ from graphical art and devoted his time to painting the polder landscape close to his home – Ooij, near Nijmegen –, that had always been intertwined with his life. He exchanged laborious and intensive printing for lighter materials such as pencil, pastel and oil paint. He also returned to making nude studies (a theme he had been captivated by as a young artist), which he reduced to basic lines in various techniques. One of the results is the book art collector’s edition NOVAnu, published late 2006 in collaboration with the Dutch poet Hans Bouma.
     Yet, at times he returned to the form that has been his great contribution to art. His final relief print was created in 2007: Re-Genesis

     Re-Genesis, 2007, template and relief print, edition of 40.

He undertook extensive travel of which the months long expedition across the Sahara and Africa (1982-1983) was the most impressive. He was a member of the ‘Gemeenschap Beeldende Kunstenaars’ (GBK, Community of Visual Artists) in Nijmegen and an artist member of Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam. In 2007 he was given a knighthood in the Order of Oranje-Nassau for his achievement in the graphic arts.

Harry van Kuyk died in Nijmegen on 7 May 2008.