Jan Schoonhoven was a pivotal figure in post-war European art, whose contributions to the field of geometric abstraction and conceptual art have left an indelible mark on the art world. Born on June 26, 1914, in the historic city of Delft, Netherlands, Schoonhoven's journey into the arts began with his classical training at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. His education there predestined him for a career in teaching art, but the trajectory of his life would take a different path. The outbreak of World War II and its aftermath dramatically disrupted the lives and careers of many artists of Schoonhoven's generation. In the post-war period, Schoonhoven found stability not in teaching but in a civil service job as a post office official, a position he held at the headquarters in The Hague until his retirement in 1979. The regularity and organization of his work life as a civil servant played a significant role in shaping his artistic practice, which was characterized by a meticulous and systematic approach. Despite his day job, Schoonhoven's passion for art never waned. He dedicated his weekends and after-work hours to his artistic pursuits, creating works that were deeply influenced by his immediate environment. His living room in Delft, which he shared with his wife and child, doubled as his studio. The practical constraints of his workspace meant that his sculptural wall reliefs could not exceed the size of his sitting room table, lest they become too large to navigate through his building's stairwell. Schoonhoven's early artistic explorations were influenced by the work of Paul Klee, but as his style evolved, he began to move away from figuration and towards a more reductionist and abstract visual language. In the late 1950s, along with fellow artists such as Armando, Henk Peeters, and Jan Henderikse, Schoonhoven founded the Informele Groep, which in 1961 transformed into the NUL group. This collective was the Dutch counterpart to the German ZERO group, with whom they shared close ties and a mutual interest in simplicity of form, material, and the serial and repetitive pattern in abstract visual language. Schoonhoven's work is best known for his white reliefs, which he began creating in the early 1960s. These works are characterized by their monochromatic simplicity and their focus on light and shadow. The artist sought to create art that was "objectively neutral," moving away from painting and focusing on sculpture—a medium that complemented his minimalist tendencies. His philosophy was that a white plane should be free from any interference foreign to its character, and he applied this principle rigorously to his work. The international art community quickly recognized Schoonhoven's unique talent. His career gained significant momentum following his successful participation in the Sao Paulo Biennale in 1967 and Documenta 4 in Kassel in 1968. His reputation as one of the Netherlands' most important artists of the second half of the twentieth century was solidified by his innovative and systematic investigations into light, form, and volume. Schoonhoven's works have been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide and are held in key museum collections, including The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, The Art Institute of Chicago, Tate Gallery in London, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and many others across Europe and the United States. Throughout his career, Schoonhoven remained deeply connected to his hometown of Delft, where he passed away in 1994. His legacy continues to influence contemporary artists and his works remain a testament to the power of minimalism and the exploration of geometric abstraction. Schoonhoven's dedication to his craft, despite the demands of his day job, serves as an inspiring example of the profound impact that passion and discipline can have on the creation of enduring art.

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