Meijer, Sal

Background: large Jewish family of diamond workers.
Education: art classes.
Profession/occupation: diamond cutter and polisher; after 1914 painter.
Art form/medium: painting, etching.
Start artwork: 1914.
Relevant info: 1923 bronze medal /award from H.M. Queen Wilhelmina.
(Solo-) exhibitions: 2007 Amsterdam, Arti et Amicitiae; 1972 Laren, Antwerpen, Apeldoorn, Breda; 1965 Slot Zeist; 1964 Rotterdam, Boymans van Beuningen Lusthof der naïeven; 1923 Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam;

References: Lusthof der naïeven, exhibition catalogue Boymans van Beuningen Rotterdam, 1964;
Grondman, Agnes; Sal Meijer. Zo naïef nog niet, Amsterdam 1986; Catalogus: Sal Meijer, Amsterdam 1972;
Van der Endt, Nico; Lexicon Nederlandse naïeve kunst van de twintigste eeuw / Lexicon of twentieth century Dutch naïve art, Venlo/Antwerpen, 1995, pp. 86-87.

As a dextrous craftsman he had learned etching and managed to sell his small etchings of mostly Amsterdam townscapes locally and abroad. In addition he mastered other techniques, such as lithography, watercolor, chalk and pencil drawings and oil on canvas. At first the Amsterdam townscape figured prominently, but after his move to Blaricum in 1931 the countryside of ‘t Gooi made its appearance: views of villages, the characteritic Saxon farms, heaths and wheat fields. He became known through his striking and realistic depictions of cats.
His position as a naive painter is controversial, because he made portraits and nudes that can hardly be called naive, just like Henri Rousseau’s non-naive sketches. From: Van der Endt.

Salomon Meijer
1877 Amsterdam, The Netherlands - 1965 Blaricum, The Netherlands