Nicolaas van der Waay

Nicolaas van der Waay (1855–1936) was a Dutch decorative artist, watercolorist and lithographer. He worked in many genres, including stamp, coin and banknote designs. He is perhaps best known for the allegorical illustrations he created for the Golden Coach and a series of paintings depicting the lives of girls from the Amsterdam Orphanage. His work was also part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.

Biography His first drawing lessons came from Louis Koopman (1827-1877), whose daughter he would later marry. He then enrolled at the Rijksacademie, where he studied from 1871 to 1875. After graduating, he shared a workshop with one of his classmates, Jan Hillebrand Wijsmuller. In 1915, he did watercolor illustrations for the Festschrift dedicated to , the Director of Artis.

In 1922, he joined the "Maatschappij voor Kunst en Kunstverlangenden", a new organization founded by the painter . Its goal was to bring art to the "common people" at affordable prices. Among his best known students were Lizzy Ansingh, Tjeerd Bottema, Piet Mondriaan and Jan Sluijters.

Selected paintings