Willem Lenssinck (*Woerden, The Netherlands, April 21, 1947) is a Dutch-German sculptor and designer.
Life and work
Willem Lenssinck, son of a Dutch father and a German mother, grew up in Harmelen in The Netherlands. In the 1950s, the family moved to Utrecht, where Lenssinck later attended the Academy of Fine Arts (HKU). In the year of his graduation, 1969, he was recommended by his teachers to Royal Delft and immediately hired as a designer for industrial ceramics.
Since 1972 Lenssinck is self-employed and worked on numerous assignments in ceramic or bronze. Since 1985 the artist lives in Langbroek. In 2001 he married Catherine Laimböck-Vermeulen, the daughter of the painter Piet Vermeulen. Lenssinck is father of Jeroen Lenssinck and stepfather of Lia Laimböck, both also active as artists.
Today Lenssinck focusses solely on free work; sculptures in bronze, German silver, stainless steel or aluminium as well as the design of furniture and lighting objects. His sculptures are characterised by a futuristic look, sharp lines and smooth, highly polished surfaces. Favourite subjects of his work are 'horse and machine' - as a symbol of technological development of the 20th century - female figures, guard figures and bulls. Since 2005 Lenssinck uses new 3D design processes to overcome technical limitations of traditional plaster models, such as enlargements or miniaturisation. Willem Lenssinck's works can be found, among others, in the collections of the British Museum (London), Museum Beelden aan Zee (Scheveningen), Museum Buitenplaats (Eelde), the collection IHK Hannover, the private collection of Silvio Berlusconi and other private collections throughout the world.
In 1991 Lenssinck received the Pieter d'Hont Award for his artistic work. His sculptures were regularly present at art fairs like PAN Fine Art Fair, Amsterdam, and TEFAF (The European Fine Art Fair) in Maastricht. In 2007, the monograph "Willem Lenssinck" was published on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday.
The Louwman Museum at The Hague showed Lenssinck's work during the exhibition "Horse Power" in 2015.
Exhibitions (selection)
1990 - 1993 Pan Fine Art Fair, Amsterdam
1992 - 2016 Galerie Laimböck, Langbroek
1993 - 2015 TEFAF, Maastricht
1993 Kunsthaus Bühler, Stuttgart
1994 Museum Beelden aan Zee, Scheveningen
1994 Art Fair Herrenhausen, Hannover
1995 Lineart, Gent
1996 Tresor Fine Art Fair, Singapore
2000 Museum De Buitenplaats, Eelde
2007 Steendruk Museum, Valkenswaard
2010 - 2012 Art Fair Zurich, Zurich
2013 Art Fair, West Palm Beach
2015 Louwman Museum, The Hague
Literature
Willem Lenssinck Sculpture - Design. Langbroek, 2007. ISBN90-902-1461-5