Henk J. Rotgans

Henk Rotgans was born in Amsterdam as the son of illustrator Jan Rotgans. Following his father's footsteps, he attended the Art Academy and began a career as an illustrator and watercolor artist. In the late 1930s, he published in De Kleine Wij. He also made illustrations for magazines published by De Spaarnestad, such as De Humorist and Panorama. For a short period, he was an illustrator for advertising booklets published by jam factory De Betuwe, including 'Flipje en zijn vriend de Aap'.

During World War II, Rotgans hid in the northeast of Holland to avoid the Arbeitseinsatz (Nazi forced-labor program) in Germany. During this period, he made many situation sketches of the activities in the northeast polder. After the War, Rotgans illustrated several comics for Libelle, such as 'Robbie en Ringo' (1951-1952), 'Jop, Joep en... Jippie' (1952-1953), 'Moppy Mal' (1955-1956) and 'De Razende Raket' (1960-1961).

For Sjors, he illustrated several comics based on literary classics, like 'Het Schateiland' (1963-1964), 'De Schipbreukelingen' (1965), and 'De Prins en de Bedelaar' (1966-1967). His comic 'Robbie en Ringo' was published in an album by De Spaarnestadt in 1952. Rotgans has illustrated various postcards, including the 'Reis van Houtepiet' series (1939) and a collection of knights postcards and ones with military humor.