{{Short description|Dutch artist and ceramist (1933–2019)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{use Hiberno-English|date=May 2023}} [[File:Kom met glazuurdecoratie door Sonja Landweer, 1962.jpg|thumb|Bowl with glaze decoration by Sonja Landweer, 1962]] '''Sonja Landweer''' (20 April 1933 – 15 December 2019) was a Dutch multi-disciplinary artist, who lived and worked in Ireland for much of her life. Initially a ceramicist, she later also became known for her bronze castings with unique patinations and subtle forms, and painted, and made prints, jewellery and pottery.<ref name="PG">Peppercanister Gallery. "{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130511010504/http://peppercanister.com/sonja-landweer-biography Sonja Landweer, biography]}}," at ''peppercanister.com.'' Accessed 16.05.2015.</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/sonja-landweer-obituary-visionary-in-craft-and-design-in-ireland-1.4133055|title=Sonja Landweer obituary: Visionary in craft and design in Ireland|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|access-date=2020-01-20}}</ref>
== Life and work == Landweer was born in Amsterdam, the eldest child of three; her parents were German artist and teacher, Erna Benter-Landweer, and Dutch registrar of births and deaths, [[Pieter Landweer]].<ref name=":0" /> She studied ceramics at the [[Gerrit Rietveld Academie]] in the early 1950s,<ref>''Representing Art in Ireland,'' 2008. p. 273.</ref> and started her own art studio in 1954.<ref>''Configura 1: Kunst in Europa : Erfurt '91,'' 1991. p. 129.</ref>
In 1962 she took part in an exhibition of six young ceramists from Amsterdam in [[Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen]], together with [[Hans de Jong (ceramist)|Hans de Jong]], [[Jan de Rooden]], [[Johan van Loon]], [[Jan van der Vaart (ceramist)|Jan van der Vaart]] and [[Johnny Rolf]], which signified the rebirth of artisan ceramics in the Netherlands.<ref>[[Mienke Simon Thomas]] (2008). ''Goed in vorm: honderd jaar ontwerpen in Nederland.'' p. 188</ref>
In 1965, she was invited to move to Ireland to revitalise Irish craft and design as part of a group of international artists. Having moved, she met [[Barrie Cooke]]. They lived at The Island, [[Thomastown, County Kilkenny|Thomastown]], which later became Grennan Mill Art School, and later Jerpoint Abbey. They had one child, Aoine, in 1966. Landweer remained a resident of Ireland for the rest of her life, with the exception of a two-year medical residence in the UK. Landweer and Cooke separated in the 1980s but remained friends and supporters of each other's arts.<ref name=":0" />
She was artist-in-residence at the [[Kilkenny Design Workshops]], and a teacher. While in Kilkenny, she came into contact with [[Lance Clark]] of [[C. & J. Clark]], and inspired him to develop his [[C. & J. Clark#Desert Trek|Desert Trek]] shoe design.
In 1981 she was elected to membership of the national arts academy, [[Aosdána]]. She continued drawing, painting, print-making, working in bronze, and making jewellery and pottery.<ref name=":0" />
==Recognition== Landweer was awarded the Verzetsprijs in Holland in 1964; the prix artistique at the Biennale Internationale de Ceramique d’Art, Vallauris, France in 1974 and the 1992 honorary award from NCAD.<ref name="PG"/>
== Work in public collections == The work of Landweer is held in several public collections worldwide, a selection:<ref name="PG"/> * [[Frans Hals Museum]], Haarlem * [[Princessehof Ceramics Museum]] * Hildesheim Stadtisches Museum, Germany * Museum of Decorative Arts, Copenhagen * [[Ulster Museum]]
== References == {{reflist|2}}
== Further reading == * Danske Kunstindustrimuseum (København). ''Sonja Landweer: keramik,'' 1972. * Mieke G. Spruit-Ledeboer, Sonja Landweer. ''Transforming Clay: Sonja Landweer,'' 2009. * Nicola Gordon Brown, Susan Holland, Emma Lucy O'Brien. ''Life's Work: Sonja Landweer : a Retrospective Exhibition,'' 2011.
== External links == {{commons category}} *{{Art UK bio}} * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130511010504/http://peppercanister.com/sonja-landweer-biography Sonja Landweer, Peppercanister Gallery]}}, biography. * [http://portfolio.dccoi.ie/craft-maker/sonja-landweer/ Sonja Landweer], jewelry.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Landweer, Sonja}} [[Category:1933 births]] [[Category:Dutch women ceramists]] [[Category:Dutch people of German descent]] [[Category:Artists from Amsterdam]] [[Category:Gerrit Rietveld Academie alumni]] [[Category:Aosdána members]] [[Category:2019 deaths]]