Jan van Stolk


Jan van Stolk was a Dutch ceramist.

Life and work

Van Stolk was the son of Pieter Adriaan van Stolk and Sophie van der Does de Willebois. He was born in the Canary Islands and later lived with his parents in Italy, the Netherlands and Greece. In the 1930 he came with his mother and stepfather Luigi de Lerma back to the Netherlands. They were both potters and started a studio in Utrecht Groenekan. Van Stolk participated in their workshops. During World War II he studied at the Art Academy in Arnhem under Gijs Jacobs van den Hof.
In 1946, Van Stolk began his own studio in Nijmegen, from 1953 in Oosterbeek. Until 1970 he was a lecturer at the Free Academy in Nijmegen. He had several students and assistants, such as Wim Fiege and Marianna Franken. In the early work of Van Stolk the Mediterranean atmosphere is recognizable. Later he was working with engraved decorations, often on a black background. Since the 1960s he also made ceramic sculptures.