COLLECTION

Groninger Ploeg

Around 1918 the painters Jan Altink, Johan Dijkstra, George Martens and Jan Wiegers set up the artists’ society ‘De Ploeg’ in Groningen in order to create more opportunities to exhibit the modern works of their members and to gain the acknowledgement of the general public. Though every artist with his own way of painting could become a member of the society, the Groningen Ploeg eventually took shape in the early 20’s under the management of Jan Wiegers with the artists’ expressionistic paintings and graphic art works, inspired by the German works of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and those of Vincent van Gogh and Edvard Munch as well. Their work was extremely colourful and expressionistic in its outline and composition. From 1926 Altink’s and Wiegers’ work within the Groningen Ploeg became more modest, while Dijkstra’s work turned out more and more impressionistic.