Glastra, Siebe Wiemer
Siebe Wiemer Glastra practised a wide variety of professions in his life: he was a carpenter, a taxi driver, a coffin maker and he worked in a chewing gum factory. In 1958 he came to realize that he was paranormally gifted and became a hypnotist, among other things. In 1959 he started to paint after God had sent him a Message that he needed to create and would thereby become famous. He believed that he was a medium. Rembrandt, the Blessed Virgin and others supposedly led his hand while he was painting. His oeuvre contains around sixty works, from small to monumental. All works have biblical themes as subjects. His last wife complained about the smell of oil paint, so he took to embroidering his pictures. In spite of his admiration for great artists he declared himself the ‘king-painter of all painters’.
(Solo-) exhibitions: 1963 & 1965, Galerie 20, Arnhem and Amsterdam.
References: Erik van Zuylen; Siebe Wiemer Glastra, zondagsschilder (1965) (tv-documentaire); Reith, Liesbeth; Siebe Wiemer Glastra. Koning-schilder der schilders, in: Verborgen werelden, Tielt 2007, pp. 138-141. / Reith, Liesbeth; Siebe Wiemer Glastra. King-painter of painters, in: Hidden Worlds, Tielt 2007, pp. XLI-XLIV. / Lenders, Tom; Siebe Wiemer Glastra, in: INSITA 2004, catalogue Bratislava 2004, pp. 84-86. Sous le vent de l’art brut 2. Collection De Stadshof, 2014, Catalogue Halle Saint Pierre, Paris. Smolders, Frans e.a.; Solitary Creations. 51 Artists out of De Stadshof Collection, 2014.
Siebe Wiemer Glastra1910 Amsterdam, The Netherlands - 1973 Amsterdam, The Netherlands
