Willem Arondeus would not stand for this. They began comparing identity papers to those in the Amsterdam Public Records Office. it was called вЂњFigures and Problems of Monumental Painting in the NetherlandsвЂќ, and he illustrated it himself.) In 1943, WillemвЂ™s publication joined forces with a publication run by other Dutch artists, reaching even more people.Д«y 1943, the Dutch Resistance had a vast underground network hiding Jews from the Nazis. (He also published another book that had nothing to do with resisting the Nazis. He attempted to call the artistic community of the Netherlands to act against the Nazi regime, criticizing the NaziвЂ™s cultural committee. He also began writing and publishing an illegal magazine encouraging more Dutch to join the resistance. Also in his unit were a number of other openly homosexual people, including cellist and conductor Frieda Belinfante. WillemвЂ™s primary job during the early days of the resistance was to forge fake identity papers for Dutch Jews. (I hesitate to call him a founding member, because no one else seems to be calling him that, but from what IвЂ™m reading, he probably missed being a вЂњfounding memberвЂќ by like a day or two.)

Like many others, Willem Arondeus joined the Dutch resistance almost immediately. But the Nazis didnвЂ™t hesitate when it came to criminalizing homosexuality - and the open and proud LGBT+ populace of the Netherlands was not having any of that. Many of the Dutch were fooled into thinking the Nazis werenвЂ™t as bad as everyone was saying. They were trying a subtle approach to keep the Dutch from resisting. There werenвЂ™t any immediate deportations, there were no strict curfews. When the Nazis came to the Netherlands, they mostly took their time with their policies.

In 1938 he published two novels, and in 1939 he published his most famous and, by all accounts, his best work вЂњThe Tragedy of the DreamвЂќ which is a biography of the artist Matthijs Maris.ДЄnd then the Nazis came, and his real work began. In 1935 he decided that visual arts might not be for him, and turned to poetry and writing. In 1933, Willem met a man named Jan Tijssen, and the two lived together for the next seven years. This piece, and other surviving pieces of his, are on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.) IвЂ™m not trying to say this explains, maybe, why he didnвЂ™t have a lot of success as a painter but like, yвЂ™know, form your own opinions. (IвЂ™m including a picture of his drawing вЂњSalomeвЂќ which was completed in 1916. However, he never had much success as a painter and was living in abject poverty. Thanks Napoleon!) He began building a career for himself as an illustrator and painter, and was even hired to paint a mural for the Rotterdamn Town Hall in 1923. (It would have been a lot worse, had Denmark not decriminalized homosexuality in 1811. That part of his story is, unfortunately, all too familiar to too many LGBT+ people even to this day. Whatever.ДЄt seventeen years old, Arondeus fought with his parents over his homosexuality, left home, and severed all contact with his family. I find that a little hard to believe, but thereвЂ™s literally nothing written about the first seventeen years of his life. Despite being the child of two people in the theatre, and being one of six kids, apparently there was nothing remarkable about his entire childhood. His parents, Hendrik Cornelis Arondeus and Catharina Wilhelmina de Vries, designed costumes for the theater. He was born on Augin Naarden, Netherlands. Willem Arondeus was an artist-turned-author and - most importantly - a member of the Dutch resistance to Nazi occupation.

Willem arondeus