Gijs Donker

Gijs Donker was born in 1964 in Amstelveen as the first son of Rotterdam publisher Willem Donker. Two years after his birth, his parents had another son, Justus, followed by a third son, Aad, a year later. Gijs began his professional career at an early age, and after several solo exhibitions, he co-founded the artist collective "After Nature" in 1989 with his brothers Justus and Aad, as well as Peter Klashorst, Ernst Voss, Bart Domburg, and Juriaan van Hall. This group quickly became known as the "enfants terribles" of Dutch painting. They rejected the dominant abstract expressionism and gained fame in the 1980s and 1990s with a bold, figurative painting style. The artists of After Nature sought to revive "traditional" painting, venturing out into nature with easels, canvases, and paints. Still lifes, cityscapes, and models also became favored subjects for the After Nature artists. Fittingly, the agenda-catalog for their 1992 exhibition at Daniel Newburg (New York) was titled *Raiders of the Lost Art*. The group’s influence was profound, and one of its achievements was the revival of realism in painting. After After Nature disbanded in 1992, Gijs continued with group exhibitions alongside his brothers Aad and Justus, particularly in the United States. After the passing of his brother Aad in 1998, Gijs pursued his work independently, focusing on developing his painting style. Today, Gijs Donker has numerous exhibitions to his name once again.