De Vries, Herman

* 11.7.1931 Alkmaar

Herman de Vries, who, because of his aversion to anything hierarchical, prefers to write and read his name in the lower case, was born on 11 July 1931 in Alkmaar, The Netherlands. Before de Vries began to deal with the realities of nature through art in 1953, as a trained biologist and natural scientist he worked as a farm labourer and gardener in his native country and in France. For de Vries, nature is a true work of art from which he draws, and which varies, continually renewing itself, changing and becoming increasingly important for his œuvre. Already, by 1954, this self-taught artist was able to open his first solo exhibition. As an exponent of Art Informel and co-founder of the "nul" group, his works were exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam as early as 1962.

Since 1967, de Vries has lived with his wife Susanne in Eschenau, Germany, and works as a freelance artist in his 200 km² "studio", the Steigerwald. De Vries collects, archives and catalogues plants, leaves, flowers, grasses, woods, and stones on his regular walks in the Steigerwald and his extensive travels that take him halfway around the world. He presents his finds to the viewer in their natural beauty. In 2015, the artist represented his country of birth at the 56th Venice Biennale and attracted worldwide attention. Four years later, de Vries was honoured for his life's work with the Gerhard Altenbourg Prize. Herman de Vries' works are to be found in the collections of numerous renowned museums worldwide. The artist lives and works in Lower Franconia.