First half of Marius van Dokkum's contribution to 'Speurtocht door de Geschiedenis van West-Friesland' (2002).
Marius van Dokkum is a Dutch illustrator, painter and sculptor, known for his comical, satirical and subtle depictions of the Dutch people, and the elderly in particular. His work has been collected in art books, on calendars, postcards and other products through Art Revisited, the publishing house that has also released Van Dokkum's picture book series 'Opa Jan' (2002- ).
Early life and work
Marius van Dokkum was born in 1957 in the West-Frisian town of Andijk, where he grew up in a Reformed-Synodal family. He got his artistic training at the Christian Academy of Fine Arts in Kampen, and subsequently worked part-time as a designer in a paper factory in Ugchelen, until his retirement. In his spare time, he further trained his painting skills. Among his main inspirations are classic painters like Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Steen and Hans Holbein the Elder, as well as contemporary artists like Sierk Schröder, Henk Helmantel and Maarten 't Hart. In terms of observational, satirical comedy, his paintings also bring to mind cartoonists like Peter van Straaten and Jan Sanders.
'Beste Reizigers'.
Storyteller painter
As a painter, Marius van Dokkum has been making still lifes and portraits, both by commission and as free work. His portraits are often combined with subtle visual observations, mild social commentary and the artist's keen eye for human peculiarities. In many ways, he is a storyteller, using his oil paintings to convey his impressions in an anecdotal, contemporary manner, almost like a cartoonist. Van Dokkum's paintings require multiple viewings to absorb all the details. Among his well-known pieces are a large canvas of a crowd of people waiting for the train on a platform, or the group of museum visitors attentively studying a work of art, shown from the viewpoint of the painting. Recurring subjects in his paintings are the elderly, either showing them having a good time, overestimating their abilities or exposing their difficulties keeping up with modern technology. One particular series of paintings portrays an elderly couple and their ongoing annoyances with their loud, obnoxious neighbors.
From Van Dokkum's neighbors series: 'World Cup' and 'The Last Straw'.
Even in his still lifes, Van Dokkum has managed to sneak in his trademark humor. A notable series has been his paintings of pears, who are arranged in human situations, sometimes even portrayed as pear-shaped men. Since 1989, the art publisher Art Revisited has released Marius van Dokkum's work in several products, ranging from calendars, postcards, jigsaw puzzles and books. Since 2010, His work has been showcased in monographs in the publisher's 'A Portrait Of' series, as well as book collections such as 'Van Heren tot Peren' (2012), 'Dames en Heren' (2014) and 'Beste Reizigers' (2018).
One of Van Dokkum's pear paintings.
In addition to paintings, Marius van Dokkum has also created picture books with an ongoing narrative. In 1989, Art Revisited released 'De Beste Wensen uit Bethlehem' ("Best Wishes from Bethlehem"), a retelling of the Christmas story in contemporary terms, accompanied by the official 1951 NBG translation and a lighter version by Hans van Seventer. Since 2002, Art Revisited has also published installments of Van Dokkum's picture book series about the eccentric and resourceful 'Opa Jan' ("Grandpa John"). With Rikkert Zuiderveld (of Elly & Rikkert fame) as writer, he made the picture book 'De Rijmelaarse Kat' (2025), featuring illustrated poems about animals and sports.
'Opa Jan Maakt Zijn Huis Schoon' (2010).
Graphic contributions
In 2002, Marius van Dokkum was one of the participating artists making a comic page for the educational book 'Speurtocht door de Geschiedenis van West-Friesland', published by the historical society Westfries Genootschap. In what seems to be Van Dokkum's only actual comic page, the West Frisian farmers and market gardeners were portrayed. Other contributing comic artists to the book were Paul Stoel, Hayo van Gemert & Jurjen Gillot, Astrid Porsius, Noortje Peederman, Wouter Paap & Remy Suring, Ron Verbrugge, Hico Visser and Wendie Duin.
Marius van Dokkum Museum
In 2015, the City Museum of Harderwijk held a well-attended exhibition of Marius van Dokkum's paintings. In fact, the event was such a success, that the town opted for a dedicated Marius van Dokkum Museum in one of its old university buildings. On 25 May 2018, the museum was festively opened by Dutch comedian André van Duin, a big admirer of Van Dokkum's work. It was the first museum in the Netherlands fully dedicated to a living artist.
Second half of Marius van Dokkum's contribution to 'Speurtocht door de Geschiedenis van West-Friesland' (2002).