Willem Boon (1902-1986) He studied art at the Academy of Art in Rotterdam at the same time as Willem de Kooning. Willem Boon was a personal friend of the owner of Gouda Art, Koos Stam, as from about 1960. Stam collected not only his paintings but also Boon’s sculptures. Willem Boon was not only a fine artist, but also an impressionist and abstract painter. He had a very moderate lifestyle with his wife Jozina. They had one son, Johan, and when Willem passed away, Koos Stam bought about 200 paintings which were stored on the attic of Boon’s house and were never shown before.

Willem Boon was born in Dordrecht, Holland, on February 28, 1902. In 1904 he moved to Rotterdam where he stayed until his death in 1986. From 1918-1921 he studied at the Academy of Art in Rotterdam, together with Willem de Kooning. In 1933 Willem established the artist-group ROTTERDAM 1933 (R33) with a.o. Kees van Dongen, Marius Richters, Hendrik Chabot, Quirijn van Tiel, etc., all famous artists. In 1936, 1937 and 1940 Willem Boon had an exhibition in Museum Boymans-van Beuningen in Rotterdam. From these years Gouda Art has the cataloques of Museum Boymans-van Beuningen showing the exhibitions. During his show in this museum in May 1940 his house was destroyed by the bombardment of the Germans on Rotterdam and his paintings were lost, except those which were on show in the Museum in Rotterdam. Willem had many exhibitions in Dutch Galleries and in 1963 and 1965 he had shows in the City Museum of Schiedam, Holland, and in 1973 in the City Museum of Maassluis and also in the City. Museum of Amsterdam. He passed away on September 30, 1986. His wife Jozina died on December 22, 1991 at the age of 94.