NederlandsDutch artist Ad Willemen is mostly known for his graphic works and drawings. He was trained at the Academie voor Beeldende Vorming in Tilburg (1958-1961) and subsequently at AKV | St. Joost in Breda (1962-1963). After his training Willemen he concentrated on lithography, but he was a skilled draughtsman as well. From 1998 onward female nudity became more prominent in his oeuvre. This interest arose from the lessons model drawing he teached at St. Joost. In addition, his collecting rage (Willemen indicated this as ‘greed’) was of importance for his choice of subject. Among the many collections, he had the ‘paper harem’: postcards of scarce dressed woman from all ages and cultures. The combinations of female nudes culminates around 2000 in monumental art histories: nudes inspired by his famous predecessors like Pierro di Cosimo and Lucas Cranach.
Ad Willemen worked in both The Netherlands and Picardië (France), where he had a studio as well. His work is acquired by major collections and museums like the Philip Morris Collection, ABN AMRO, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen and the Amsterdam Museum.