Willem van Hasselt

Wilhelmus Josephus van Hasselt (3 September 1882 – 23 August 1963) was a Dutch footballer who played for Sparta Rotterdam, but he is best known for his work as a painter, which was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics.

Biography Racing wins the 1906 Coupe Dewar, with Van Hasselt (front row on the right) scoring the winning goals. Willem van Hasselt was born in Rotterdam on 3 September 1882, as the son of Johannes Hendrikus van Hasselt (1846–1920), a tailor, and Mathilda Hendrika Hitters (1848–1933). He was also a member of Rotterdam's first football club, Sparta Rotterdam, making his debut on 3 March 1901, and playing his last match for the club on 15 January 1905. He also began playing as a left winger for Racing Club de France as early as October 1905. He played a crucial role in helping the team reach the final of the 1906 Coupe Dewar against Gallia Club Paris, held at the Stade de Charentonneau on 6 May, scoring two late goals to help his side to a 2–1 comeback victory. His sporting career ended around 1910, following a tackle by Alfred Gindrat which broke his leg.

On 27 November 1909 and 29 January 1910, van Hasselt, now a press cartoonist, made caricatures of André Espir and André Billy, both being members of Racing Club de France. Van Hasselt then went to London, where while drawing for newspapers (The Star and The Morning Leader), he walked the National Gallery. He returned to France in the early 1910s, and then in 1911–12, he shared a studio with at 54 rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, and organized joint exhibitions there. He also exhibited with Jacques Salomon, nephew of Édouard Vuillard, which allowed him to enter Vuillard's entourage, also frequenting Maurice Denis, who had a considerable influence on his painting. During the First World War, van Hasselt, who still did not have French nationality, served as an ambulance driver in the French Army.

In 1921, van Hasselt married the designer Louise Le Vavasseur, who introduced him to the Arcachon basin, which became a real source of inspiration since he painted a large number of seascapes and scenes of daily life there during the interwar period.

Willem van Hasselt obtained French nationality in 1933. In 1945, van Hasselt was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, replacing André Devambez. From 1951 he was a member of the committee of the Institut Néerlandais and president of the Fra Angelico and France-Hollande associations.

In 1957, he moved to Nogent-sur-Marne, at the "Maison des artistes", where he died on 23 August 1963.