Fred Hartsuijker - view of farm yard

Frans Willem Hartsuijker (Amsterdam, 4 June 1894 - Utrecht, 28 September 1991) was a Dutch painter and pastelist. His name is sometimes, formally incorrectly, given as Frederik Willem or Fred Hartsuiker or Hartsuyker. The year of birth is sometimes incorrectly given as '1896'.

Life[edit]
Hartsuijker was a son of Hendrik Hartsuijker and Wilhelmina Geertruida Alida van der Vegte. He married Elisabeth Voskuijl on 12 September 1917 in Amsterdam, who died on 27 December 1927 during the birth of their fourth child. Hartsuijker remarried on 12 September 1929 in Utrecht, with Maria Hendrika van der Linden, who died on 16 September 1976. Hartsuijker himself died on 28 September 1991, aged 97, and was buried at Daelwijck Cemetery in Utrecht. The grave has since been cleared.
In 1928 Frans moved with his 3 children from Amsterdam to Zuilen, near Utrecht, which was still an independent municipality at the time. His parents had already preceded him in 1916, probably because of the move of Werkspoor from Amsterdam to Utrecht. Apparently he had trouble finding suitable housing, because he moved several times in a short period of time. In 1934 he finally ended up at Burgemeester Van Tuyllkade 6. In 1955 he moved to Sweder van Zuylenweg 12bis. Finally in 1965 he found his place at Burgemeester Van Tuyllkade 4, a corner house on the 1st floor with an attic above. It is mainly this house that people still remember, a pot of brushes in front of one of the windows on the 1st floor as a characteristic.
Frans was a lively man who liked to talk. In the years 1977/1978 he was invited to the radio program Rozegeur en Prikkeldraad of the NCRV/Rik Felderhof, and he was also a guest on the television program Voor de Vuist Weg of Willem Duys.
Frans was self-taught. He only attended a drawing school in the evenings, after his work as a carriage painter at Werkspoor.
In the Stadsblad of 24 August 2011, Zuilen appears not to have forgotten its illustrious resident. He is mentioned as one of the 3 famous former residents of the Van Tuyllkade in Zuilen.
It seems that he was called Frans within his family, but that he often introduced himself as Fred. He usually signed his works with FW Hartsuijker, but F. Hartsuijker also occurs. He usually did not put dots on the ij, which is why his name is sometimes incorrectly read as Hartsuyker. This has led to some confusion in his naming.

Signed monogram FH