Jacqueline de Jong

Who is Jacqueline de Jong?

Jacqueline de Jong is a Dutch painter, sculptor and graphic artist. She was born in the Dutch town of Hengelo to Jewish parents. Faced with the German invasion, they went into hiding. After an abortive escape attempt to England, her father Hans remained in Amsterdam while her mother and she made for Switzerland, accompanied by the Dutch painter Max van Dam. At the border they were captured by the French police, but just as they were about to be deported to the Drancy deportation camp, they were rescued by the resistance, who helped them over the border. When they returned to the Netherlands following the war, Jacqueline could not speak Dutch. From 1947 on she went to school in Hengelo and Enschede.

In 1957 she went to Paris and was employed in the boutique at Christian Dior in the meantime studying French and drama. After leaving for London spring 1958 studying drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she returned to Amsterdam September 1958-1961 and was employed by the Stedelijk Museum, the home of Modern Art there. She visited London in 1959 where she met Danish painter Asger Jorn, the founder of the CoBrA group, They became companions.