In June, an essay by Leendert van der Sluijs appeared in Liter, a Dutch Literary magazine, featuring 10 charcoal drawings from the book "Lebensworte - Lebensbilder" by and two photographs from 1958, from the archive of Kees de Kort.

... "As a child Kees de Kort (1934-2022) used to look at Gustave Doré's Bible illustrations, at a small Catholic school in Protestant Nijkerk. They were shown during Bible readings by a teacher, a master and a priest with a long beard. The dramatic slides left a lasting impression on him, as he himself said. More than the words, the drawings told the story."

Van der Sluijs is web editor of Liter. He studied theology at Utrecht University and is a cultural theologian pastor and pioneer. He facilitates the digital writing portal The Geoscope and he blogs, writes and poems under the pseudonym Blaise Tolky. He is host of talk show ZinTV on GooiTV.

Number 109 (volume 26; June 2023)
Link: Liter - Literary magazine (ISBN 978 90 831 7358 0 / ISSN 1388- 3143)

His picture book about the Bible has sold an estimated 33 million copies worldwide. But few know who the creator is. 'Kees did not flaunt his success. He spoke with his brushes.'

Volkskrant / 9 oktober 2022 / Jaap Stam

Link

Postscript Kees de Kort (1934-2022)

However modest he was, Kees de Kort gained world fame with his Bible illustrations.

Kees de Kort became world-famous with his illustrations of the Bible. Generations grew up with his 'Kijkbijbel'. He always remained modest about it. He felt truly free when he could paint pigs.

Trouw (newspaper) September 12, 2022
Bert van der Kruk

Link Trouw

Necrology, 24 August 2022

'Painter of Bible stories and pigs'

The "Dick Bruna of the Bible" is what Kees de Kort has been called. His colorful works became world famous.

Editor Paul Steenhuis

Link NRC Newspaper

Absolute eenvoud - De erfenis van Kees de Kort (1934-2022)
ND-25-08-2022-/ pg 1, 6+7
Hilbert Meijer+Jacolien Viveen

Lees het artikel (NL)

Die Zeit Magazin is a 7-page supplement with various articles and many illustrations, among them 'The Creation according to Kees de Kort' by Daniele Muscionico (see Bref).

Christ & Welt is published by ZEIT:CREDO Verlags GmbH. Click on the link to get the attachment or send us an email to receive the PDF. (The articles are in German)

LINK

Article by Daniele Muscionico

"Day after day, for 55 years, Kees de Kort has sat in his studio in Holland and painted figures from the Bible. Hardly anyone knows him, the artist. But almost everyone knows his images from their own childhood : the Holy Family, the shepherds, the flocks of angels. Time for a portrait..."

Read article (German)

LINK brefMagazin.ch

Interview with Peter Siebe

The Bible is not old, but realistic

"I grew up in Nijkerk," says De Kort between his paintings in his studio in Bergen. "The Bible told at school, by teachers and a priest with a long beard. It was a small Catholic school, because we were Catholic, in a Protestant environment. "

Read the article (NL)

DB Regio 15 februari 2020 - Marjolein Elfering, photo © Erna Faust

Entire tribes of children grew up with it; the 336 colorful paintings with which he illustrated the 28 parts of "What the Bible tells us". His "Kijkbijbel" has appeared in about one hundred languages and an estimated 33 million copies have been sold worldwide. Kees de Kort is now 85 but still paints almost daily in the studio behind his home in Bergen. His work is currently displayed in the exhibition "Kees de Kort / Ikonen" in the Bijbels Museum in Amsterdam.

Read the article (NL)

Every week, Trouw chooses from a museum the eye-catcher that we should not miss. Today: the iconic drawings of Kees de Kort in the Bijbels Museum in Amsterdam.

Link Trouw

Link Bijbels Museum

What happens when Kees de Kort's children's bible drawings come to hang next to age-old icons on which the same bible scenes can be seen? Then the work of De Kort also appears to be iconic.

Nico de Fijter, Trouw , April 8- 2019

Link newspaper article (NL)