Elegantly Celebrating The Animal's Form And Beauty In Bronze - 1921-2015

Born in Rotterdam, Holland Loet Vanderveen's childhood home was close to the zoo. It was during this period in life that he developed his love for animals. At night he would listen to the sound of the animals in the zoo, and fantasize about African safaris... fantasies which were eventually realized. During the WWII bombardment of Rotterdam the animals were destroyed as well as his home. These events led Vanderveen to a new phase in his life. He escaped occupied Holland for England, and was decorated for valor by Queen Wilhelmia. He served in the R.A.F. during the war. ...More...

After WWII, Vanderveen lived in Zurich, London and New York working as a fashion designer. Creatively unsatisfied with his profession he began private ceramic studies with the head of the Far Eastern department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (Fong Chao). He mastered Chinese glaze techniques and forms.

Vanderveen left New York and built a studio along California's Big Sur Coastline. Here his creativity exploded. Striving for a sophisticated and graceful image, Vanderveen inovativly began applying the Chinese glaze techniques as patinas to sophisticated and graceful bronze animal sculptures. A true origional Vanderveen is included in the permanent collection of numerous museums including Oakland Museum of art, Crocker art Museum, and the Cincinnati Art Museum. Collected by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II, The King of Tonga, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mary Tyler Moore, and numerous others, the fame and impact of Vanderveen in the art world is immortal.

"To capture the soul of a man, one must look into his eyes. To capture the eyes of the Beast one must look into nature's soul." - Loet Vanderveen (1921-2015)...Less...