Coen Schilt

Coen Schilt was a Dutch painter and sculptor, born in Groningen on 21 October 1907. He died on 5 April 1990. He studied at the art academy Academie Minerva in Groningen, where he was apprenticed to Willem Valk and A.W. Kort. After graduating in 1935, he began as a painter and sculptor. He mainly painted mysterious figures, including stylised women gazing in space. He also created two war memorials: Verzetsmonument Baflo (1946) en het Verzetsmonument Vries (1951). In 1950 he became a member of the art society “Het Narrenschip”, along with the artists Ekke Kleime, Jan Jordens, Jan Altink and Jan van der Zee. The group, propagating modern art, came to an end in 1957. Between 1954 and 1973 Schilt was a teacher at a training school and he designed shipbuilding yards in Groningen and Delfzijl. In 1973 he started to paint again.