(b Utrecht, 25 Sept 1886; d Maarssen, 8 March 1974). Dutch painter, printmaker and architect. He trained at the Kunstnijverheidschool in Utrecht from 1900 and until 1907 at the Koninklijke Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten in The Hague. During this period he worked mainly from nature. Until 1910 he attended the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam under Pieter Dupont who taught him etching and engraving techniques. Around 1915–16 traces of Cubism, Futurism and Expressionism can be seen in his work. Leusden met Gerrit Rietveld in 1918, through whom he came into contact with the views of the group centred around the magazine De Stijl. In 1923 he submitted three models to the exhibition Les Architectes du Groupe De Stijl (Hollande) at Galerie de l’Effort Moderne in Paris. In 1924 he redecorated his own house according to De Stijl principles, using for example his own furniture designs. His association with El Lissitzky led him to produce Constructivist work. After 1930, with Johannes Moesman and others he belonged to the Utrecht Surrealists. After World War II he developed an etching technique close to that of Hercules Segers.

• Leusden, Willem van
  • Moesman, Johannes
  • Netherlands,the, §III, 7(ii): Prints, after c 1900