Spronk (-Feenstra) Ank

Ank Spronk (-Feenstra) was a Dutch artist who was born in Arnhem in 1919 and who died in 2010. She was a painter and graphic artist. She followed her education at the Kunstnijverheidsschool Kunstpraktijk in Arnhem. There she was taught by Gijs Jacobs van den Hof, Frans Zwolle jr and Hendrik Valk. In 1941 she obtained her final diploma in graphics and illustration. Her father is the well-known architect Gerrit Feenstra. He is, among other things, the founder of the Tile Museum It Noflik Ste in Otterlo. Ank married Jan Spronk, painter and goldsmith. Initially they lived in Amsterdam, but during the war they moved to Barchem. It was only in 1973 after the death of her husband, the artist Jan Spronk, that Ank Spronk's career as an artist started with etchings in black and white. Afterwards, her etchings became larger and more colorful. many outdoor drawing directly to nature. Watercolors and gouaches from France, Spain, Greece and their own environment, the Achterhoek. In contrast to the usually naturalistic watercolors and gouaches, in the early years a fantasy world is the basis for the graphics: ruins, castles, animals, vegetable forms, landscapes and sometimes the human figure. Later she makes thirty trips to Russia and these are reflected in her oeuvre. In 1974 she made her first ex-libris using her etching technique. (Source : Nobilis Cahier 7, Ank Spronk-Feenstra (1919-2010))