Name

Kees Hos

Culture

Aotearoa New Zealander | Australian | Dutch

Gender

Male

Birth date

1916

Birth place

The Hague, Holland View on map Close map

Death date

3 December 2015

Death Place

Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand View on map Close map

Movements

New Zealand 1956-74, Australia from 1974

Occupations

Artist (painter) | Musician | Printmaker

Summary

Worked: Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia. Etchings, Woodblock prints.

NGA IRN

19012

Context

Aotearoa New Zealand | Australia

Biography

Kees Hos was born in The Hague in 1916. He studied at both the The Hague Royal Academy of Art and Amsterdam State Academy. After being awarded the Prix de Rome in 1940, he later lectured at The Hague Royal Academy between 1936 – 1956. Following World War Two, he and his wife Tina immigrated to New Zealand. Here, Hos taught at the Elam School of Fine Art, and established the New Vision Gallery, which sold and exhibited the work of a significant new generation of New Zealand artists including Colin McMahon and Gordon Walters.

Hos later relocated to the Gippsland region, east of Melbourne to lecture at the Gippsland Institute of Technology. The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra has a large collection of prints by Hos, gifted by the artist in 2012. Hos was a fine printmaker, teacher and a gifted musician. He will also be remembered for his work in helping persecuted Jews hide in Holland during the Second World War.