Wim Bijmoer was meant to have a career in economics, but he displayed such a creative talent as a boy that he was allowed to go to Art school instead. He got his first assignments in the theater, designing sets and puppets for Jett Bonn's puppet shows.
Shortly after the war, he was employed as a journalist and illustrator by the newspaper Het Parool, where he started illustrating the children's poetry of Annie M. G. Schmidt, the famous writer of children's books. Their collaboration proved a fruitful one: over the years, Bijmoer provided the artwork for hundreds of her stories.
Between 1947 and 1950, they published 'Het Schaap Veronica' in the Het Parool, and between 1953 and 1954, they produced 'Hendrik Haarklover', and later on 'Pippeloentje'. A whole generation that grew up with Schmidt's colorful characters will forever remember Bijmoer's depiction of her stories.
Oessoef Bontebuis (Het Parool, 2/4/1958)
Together with Han G. Hoekstra, he made the comic strip 'Oessoef Bontebuis' in Het Parool in the late 1950s. Wim Bijmoer also did freelance illustration work, for instance on the advertising publication 'Kabouter Puntmuts', a story written by T. bij de Ley for a biscuit factory.
Throughout his career, Bijmoer has also designed sets and costumes for popular Dutch TV shows and series like 'Ja zuster, nee zuster', 'De Stille Kracht' and 'De film van ome Willem', as well as the theater productions of Rob van Reijn. In 1990, Bijmoer lost his sight in a failed eye operation. He died on September 29, 2000, at the age of 86.
Wim Bijmoer and Annie M.G. Schmidt