Dick Ket Portrait Painting by Paul Meijering

Realistic acrylic painting of the Dutch painter Dirk Hendrik (Dick) Ket (Den Helder, 10 October 1902 - Bennekom, 15 September 1940), painted by the Dutch fine artist Paul Meijering.

Dick Ket was born in 1902 in Den Helder, but because of his father's work - a military pharmacy assistant - the Ket family changed residence several times.

In The Hague, Ket started the hbs; he graduated in 1921 in Hoorn. Living in Ede, he took art classes at the Arnhem society Kunstoefening (drawing school).

Initially, Ket produced landscapes and still lifes in an impressionist style, but around 1930 he changed his style from impressionist to a more magical-realist painting style.

Later work reveals his philosophy of life. In summary, it boils down to this: he believed in two opposing worlds, balancing each other, the world of "being", the material world, versus that of "non-being", the spiritual. In all phenomena, things and facts, Ket saw the struggle and relationship between the material and spiritual parts of existence. This vision is also reflected in his art.
Ket painted each object with great precision and sometimes spent days arranging objects to achieve a good composition.

Due to illness, Ket was housebound. As his paintings show, he had cyanosis and drumstick fingers. A doctor diagnosed dextrocardia after his birth and also a defect of a heart valve. He was often short of breath, had tightness in the chest, and suffered from increasing fatigue. He also had several phobias, such as claustrophobia, fear of the streets and xenophobia. This isolated existence is also the reason why some objects often appear in his still lifes, such as a white bowl, geraniums, a wooden horse and advertising posters. These objects were available in his childhood home.

Ket died very suddenly.