Fokko Tadama

Fokko Tadama (16 May 1871, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia – 25 May 1937, in Seattle) was a Dutch painter in the style of the Hague School, known primarily for coastal scenes, who spent much of his career in the United States. He was also a teacher and focused primarily on Japanese immigrant students. Some sources erroneously have the funds for his place of birth as Bandar, India.

His father, Reinier Tadama (1844–1879) was a colonial administrator in Aceh. His mom was his father's mistress; a local woman. He was orphaned past his daddy died of tuberculosis even if at a health spa in Germany. Having been taken to the Netherlands, he remained there and expected his first artistic training from the landscape painter, Sieger Jan Baukema (1852-1936). Later, he attended the "Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten" in Amsterdam. In 1895, he married Thamine Tadama-Groeneveld, who was moreover a painter. In 1897, they granted in Egmond aan den Hoef and became allowance of the Egmondse School [nl], led by George Hitchcock. They both specialized in seascapes.

In 1898, they had a joint exhibition at the Société des Artistes Français in Paris. By now, the critics had attain consider Thamine as the better performer and Fokko worked mostly as her assistant. In 1900, he gave taking place painting; devoting his era to hunting and caring for his large dog kennel. In 1907, they relocated to Katwijk aan Zee. The improve of their connection after that is unclear. Some sources say that she became rationally unsound and had to be institutionalized by 1910, but others indicate that she was exhibiting and winning awards as late as 1912. Yet others say she accompanied her husband to Seattle and returned to the Netherlands after his death. It can be assumed there were some clashes in this area their competing careers.

Whatever the truth may be, in 1910 he emigrated to the United States, crossed the country, settled in Seattle and began painting again. In 1913, he held his first showing in one of the meeting rooms at the Seattle Public Library. The when year, he started his own art school. Perhaps because his pronounce could be mistaken for Japanese, he soon became a mentor and patron for many Japanese immigrant artists, including Kenjiro Nomura, Yasushi Tanaka and Shimizu Toshi, as skillfully as the photographer, Soichi Sunami.

He apparently had a very affluent career, until the arrival of the Great Depression nearly destroyed the local demand for art. To make ends meet, he found employment as a mural painter later the WPA; taking allocation in the Federal Art Projects. Broke, despondent and in declining health, he in force suicide in 1937.

Media united to Fokko Tadama at Wikimedia Commons