Rien Poortvliet
Overview
 
Rien Poortvliet was a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 draughtsman
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...

 and painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

.

Born in Schiedam
Schiedam
Schiedam is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It is part of the Rotterdam metropolitan area. The city is located west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen and south of Delft...

, he was best known for his drawings of animals and for "Gnomes
The Secret Book of Gnomes
The Secret Book of Gnomes was a series of books designed for children. They contained stories and a guide to how Gnomes lived in harmony with their environment, such as what a Gnome has in their first aid kit and how a Gnome's house is built. They were written by the Dutch author Wil Huygen and...

" in the famous series of books by Wil Huygen
Wil Huygen
Wil Huygen , was a Dutch book author. He is best known for the picture books on gnomes, illustrated by Rien Poortvliet....

  and published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

Being a plasterer's son from Schiedam, making a living as an artist did not seem an option for Rien Poortvliet.
 
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