Willem van HASSELT (1882-1963) - In the garden

Willem van Hasselt, 1882-1963

Born in Rotterdam, Willem van Hasselt was a Dutch painter who settled in France and spent his entire career there. The son of a tailor, he grew up in the working-class neighborhoods of Rotterdam, surrounded by canals and port life, which would shape his artistic vision.
He trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in his hometown, studying under masters such as Van Massdyck, Striesing, and Machtweh, and graduated in 1903.
That same year, he decided to leave for Paris, the bustling artistic capital, to perfect his skills.

To support himself, Van Hasselt worked as an illustrator, drawing for the press, advertising, and theater.
He quickly became involved in Parisian artistic circles, where he met Maurice Denis and was influenced by the Nabis and Édouard Vuillard.
His first exhibitions date back to 1911. During World War I, he enlisted as an ambulance driver in the French army.

His art focused mainly on landscapes: the banks of the Seine, Brittany, Burgundy, the Arcachon Basin, and the island of Bréhat.
His paintings, often bathed in soft light, emphasize the harmony and poetry of nature. Far from spectacular effects, he depicted serene scenes, sometimes inhabited by discreet figures that blended into the landscape.
His post-impressionist style shows great sensitivity to atmosphere and light.


In 1945, Willem van Hasselt was elected to the Academy of Fine Arts, succeeding André Devambez. In 1957, he moved to the Maison des Artistes in Nogent-sur-Marne, where he lived until his death in August 1963.

His works are now on display in several French museums, including the Centre Pompidou and the musées des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux, Nantes, and Strasbourg. Van Hasselt remains appreciated for his peaceful and luminous universe, which reflects a dual identity: that of a Dutchman by birth and a French painter by adoption.