Hendrik Willem van Loon belongs to the record of art as a figure whose work outlasted the taste that first received it.
The record lists Hendrik Willem van Loon as Dutch-American historian, journalist, illustrator, and author (1882-1944).
Hendrik Willem van Loon was born at Rotterdam in 1882. His recorded nationality is Netherlands. He trained at Cornell University.
Around the turn of the twentieth century the movements arrived in quick succession, each defining itself against the last.
He worked as writer, historian and journalist.
His best-known work is The Story of Mankind. Art history is a record of what got kept, which is not the same as what was best.
Recognition followed: Newbery Medal (1922).
That the work was made in Netherlands shaped it: artistic traditions, academies and the galleries that decide what is seen have never been evenly distributed.
Hendrik Willem van Loon died in 1944, aged 62. The work remains, hanging in collections that outlived both the artist and the market that first priced it.
Achievements
- Newbery Medal — 1922
- Notable work: The Story of Mankind
