'Olle Kapoen', presumably by Coen van Hunnik (Amsterdamsch Dagblad, 30 November 1945).
Coen van Hunnik, also known as "J.C. van Hunnik" or "Jan van Hunnik", was a Dutch artist and painter. He is best-known for his nostalgic drawings and watercolors of typical Dutch landscapes and sceneries, available on countless forms of merchandising. He has also illustrated children's books, and worked with writer Phiny Dick on creating the first stories of the newspaper strip 'Olle Kapoen' (1945-1946) for the Toonder Studio's.
Early life
Johannes Coenraad van Hunnik was born in Rotterdam in 1925 as the fifth child in a family of nine children. His father was a tailor, who spent his spare time painting, taking photographs and playing the cello. The family struggled through the crisis years of the 1930s, and endured the May 1940 Nazi bombings of Rotterdam. The family spent the rest of the war years in Schiedam and then in the Veluwe region. In 1944, Coen van Hunnik was apprehended by the Nazi oppressor and sent to Camp Vledder in the province of Drenthe to do forced labor. Because there were rumors that the laborers were going to be deported to Germany, Van Hunnik and a friend decided to escape. Although a perilous undertaking, the two succeeded and after a journey of several days, Van Hunnik reached his parental home, where he spent the rest of the war in hiding.
Toonder Studios
After the Liberation (1945), Coen van Hunnik worked briefly as a house painter. He also headed for Amsterdam, to present a couple of his fairy tale drawings to the Toonder Studio's, at the time the largest production house of comics and animation in the Netherlands. After a two-month trial period as a volunteer, he was hired. In his magazine series about the history of this studio, Jan-Willem de Vries described how Van Hunnik found a companion in fellow artist Joop Hillenius, who was about the same age. During lunch hours, the two men often pranked shoppers in the Amsterdam Kalverstraat, for instance dressing up as tramps and faking a brawl. At the Toonder Studio's, Van Hunnik did fill-in art duties on several of the ongoing newspaper comics, including Marten's Toonder's own 'Tom Poes', 'Kappie' and 'Panda', but also Henk Kabos and James Ringrose's 'Tekko Taks'. In addition, he made illustrations for Tom Poes Weekblad and merchandising with Marten Toonder's 'Tom Poes'.
Artwork with Toonder-like characters by J.C. van Hunnik for a British accordion-format booklet 'Let's go ice skating'. Most likely not an official Toonder Studio's product.
Olle Kapoen
Van Hunnik was most involved with the early adventures of 'Olle Kapoen', a newspaper comic about a gnome, created and written by Marten Toonder's wife Phiny Dick. On 22 October 1945, The strip debuted in newspapers like De Kroniek, De Patriot and Amsterdamsch Dagblad. Van Hunnik is believed to have drawn at least the first story, 'Olle Kapoen op Avontuur', and possibly also the second ('De Hoed van Puk Toffel') and the unfinished third story ('Olle Kapoen en de Moerasmannetjes'). On 27 February 1946, the final strip appeared in Amsterdamsch Dagblad. On 2 November 1946, 'Olle Kapoen' returned, this time in a second series of stories published in Algemeen Handelsblad. By then, the comic was presumably drawn by studio staffer Richard Klokkers (possibly with contributions by Phiny Dick).
However, it is difficult to give exact story credits. In the previously mentioned magazine series about the Toonder Studio's, it is said that Coen van Hunnik's career with the studio was initially cut short due to his military service, and that he didn't return until 1.5 years later. Since it is unknown when Coen van Hunnik was fulfilling his military service, this could have been after the first series of 'Olle Kapoen' stories ended, in February 1946. But it is also possible that he was drafted in 1945, and returned to the Toonder Studio's in November 1946, right in time for the second series of 'Olle Kapoen' stories to take off in Algemeen Handelsblad. That way, it is also possible that he drew the first stories of the second series.
Cover illustrations for 'Mark en Mieke'.
Illustrator
In June 1953, Coen van Hunnik left the Toonder Studio's together with fellow studio worker Ben van Voorn. The two men had received a job offer from Eelco ten Harmsen van der Beek, the creator of the 'Flipje' advertising strips and the illustrator of the British 'Noddy' books. Their work as assistants lasted only a couple of weeks, because their employer passed away in July of that same year. It is unknown whether their artwork for the 'Noddy' books ever saw print. Coen van Hunnik then started working for the publishing house Mulder & Zoon, illustrating children's and fairy tales books, such as 'Mijn Dierenboek', 'Pret en Spel', 'Vrolijke Kinderen', 'Het Avontuur van Konijntje Snuf', 'Dieren op de Boerderij' and 'Drie Kleine Eendjes en de Libelle'. He also illustrated the children's book series 'Mark en Mieke' by Els Stam. He also made illustrations for jigsaw puzzles.
Painter
Later in life, Van Hunnik focused on painting idyllic Dutch landscapes and sceneries in watercolor. On sale through tourist shops to this day, these paintings have appeared on prints, postcards, tiles, plates, bowls, cups and other items. In 2013, the artist published his autobiography, 'Toen Wij Uit Rotterdam Vertrokken' (Werkman, 2013). He passed away on 26 July 2016, four days before his 91st birthday.
Illustration by Coen van Hunnik.