Why Wim Dooijewaard matters
Wim Dooijewaard, documented in most Dutch and market sources under the fuller given name Willem Dooijewaard, was a Dutch painter, watercolorist, and draughtsman best known for scenes gathered on extensive travels through Indonesia, East and Central Asia, and North Africa. His work was included in the art competition of the 1936 Summer Olympics, one documented marker of the recognition he held in his lifetime, though no major awards or honors could be independently confirmed in the available research. For today's collectors he is a niche but historically documented name within the market for early twentieth century Dutch and Indonesian subject painting, with a much thinner public sales record than the artists typically covered by international auction houses.
- Born
- 1892-10-07, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Nationality
- Dutch
- Media
- Painting, Watercolor, Drawing
- Movement
- Dutch Impressionism, Orientalist travel painting
- Education
- Rijksschool voor Kunstnijverheid, Amsterdam (also documented in sources as Rijksnormaalschool voor Kunstnijverheid), studied under Georg Sturm and Roland Strasser. Exact years of study are not documented in the available sources.
- Signature motifs
- Balinese and Indonesian genre scenes, Travel subjects from Asia and North Africa
By the numbers
- 1892 to 1980Life datesBorn in Amsterdam, died in Blaricum, Netherlands
- Art competition, Painting1936 OlympicsBerlin, 1936 Summer Olympics
- EUR 1,300 hammerDocumented auction resultVeilinghuis AAG; not confirmed as an all time high, only one public sale record found
Biography
Wim Dooijewaard was born on 7 October 1892 in Amsterdam. He trained at the Rijksschool voor Kunstnijverheid in Amsterdam, studying under Georg Sturm and Roland Strasser; some sources give the school's name as the Rijksnormaalschool voor Kunstnijverheid, and the exact years of his training are not documented. He was the brother of the painter Jacob "Jaap" Dooijewaard, and the two are frequently discussed together in Dutch regional art histories tied to Laren and Blaricum.
Dooijewaard was an avid traveler, and his subject matter reflects it: sources describe extended trips through Sumatra, Bali, Beijing, Mongolia, Tibet, India, Tunisia, Japan, Norway, and the south of France, material that fed directly into his paintings of markets, festivals, and figures such as Balinese cockerel fighters. From the early 1930s he settled in the Laren and Blaricum artists' colony in the Netherlands, where he continued to paint for the rest of his life.
His work was included in the painting event of the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. No major awards, prizes, or state honors could be independently confirmed for him in the available research. He died on 17 July 1980 in Blaricum, Netherlands, reportedly at his home, according to a Dutch regional lexicon of artists.
Critical reception
Contemporary critical commentary specific to Dooijewaard, attributable to named critics writing in major outlets, was not located in the available research, and no major awards or honors could be independently confirmed either. What is documented is exhibition and museum presence: gallery biographies characterize him as an adventurous, travel driven painter working in an impressionist idiom, and Dutch regional art lexicons list his work as present in the collections of institutions including the Singer Museum in Laren, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, and the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp.
Market
Public auction data for Wim Dooijewaard is sparse in the available research. The one documented public sale identified is a work sold through Veilinghuis AAG in the Netherlands, which hammered at EUR 1,300 against an estimate of EUR 1,000 to 2,000; the lot's exact title and sale date are not shown on the public listing. No records from major international auction houses such as Christie's or Sotheby's turned up for this artist in the available research, and no consolidated market database ranking his auction history was accessible, so this EUR 1,300 result should be treated as a documented sale rather than a confirmed all time high. His work also circulates through Dutch and Indonesian art dealers, including Simonis & Buunk, which lists paintings by him for sale as inventory; this reflects dealer stock rather than confirmed exclusive gallery or estate representation.
Top auction results
| Work | Price | Sale |
|---|---|---|
| Untitled work (lot title not published in the available source) | EUR 1,300 hammer (estimate EUR 1,000 to 2,000) | Veilinghuis AAG, Netherlands (exact city not stated on the lot page) |
Selected exhibitions
| Years | Exhibition | Venues |
|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Art Competition, Painting, 1936 Summer Olympics | Berlin, Germany |
Museum collections
- Singer Museum, Laren
- Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
- Kunstmuseum Den Haag (Gemeentemuseum Den Haag)
- Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
- Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
- Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp
Authentication and provenance
No catalogue raisonne.
No published catalogue raisonne has been identified for Wim (Willem) Dooijewaard. Signed works are typically inscribed 'W. Dooijewaard' or monogrammed 'WD'. Attribution and market handling are generally managed by Dutch auction houses and dealers specializing in early twentieth century Dutch painting, not by a dedicated foundation or catalogue project.
Primary reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Dooijewaard
What collectors should know
There is no confirmed catalogue raisonne, foundation, or certificate of authenticity program for this artist; the available research also did not confirm any current, formal gallery or estate representation, only inventory listed for sale by dealers. Auction data in the public record is thin, limited to a single confirmed sale result, so any pricing conclusion should be treated with caution rather than read as a reliable market trend. Given his signature subject matter drawn from Indonesia and Asia, provenance tied to that travel history and expertise from dealers who specialize in Dutch Indonesian era painting are likely to matter more for this artist than for names with deeper, continuously tracked auction histories.
Further reading and resources
Data current as of 2026-07-18.

