Cornelis Zitman

CORNELIS ZITMAN CORNELIS ZITMAN (Leiden, Netherlands, 1926–Caracas, Venezuela, 2016).
Untitled.
Prints on paper (3). P.A. copies.
They bear a dry stamp from the Sánchez Baillo workshop in Seville.
Signed and dated in pencil.
Measurements: 5 x 7 cm (prints, x3); 38 x 28 cm (paper, x3).
Cornelis Zitman was a Dutch sculptor who became a Venezuelan citizen; he trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague. In 1947, he moved to Venezuela, where he spent much of his career and found the primary cultural and human context for his work.Beginning in the 1960s, he devoted himself primarily to sculpture, focusing his work on the female figure. His women, with their voluminous and stylized forms, combine sensuality, expressiveness, and a strong sculptural presence, becoming the defining hallmark of his artistic language.
His international recognition was solidified following his exhibition at the Galerie Dina Vierny in Paris in 1971 and his First Prize at the Budapest Sculpture Biennial that same year. He subsequently exhibited in cities such as Paris, New York, Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Caracas, and participated in the São Paulo Biennial. His work is included in major collections such as those of the National Art Gallery in Caracas, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Caracas, the Musée Maillol in Paris, and MoMA in New York. Zitman is considered a key figure in 20th-century Venezuelan sculpture and one of the artists who best knew how to fuse his European tradition with Latin American culture and imagination.