Leo Gestel Canvas Wall Art

He first learned about art from his father, Willem Gestel, director of an art school, and his uncle Dimmen Gestel, who had painted with Vincent van Gogh. Financial challenges led him to create advertisements for illustrated books.

In Paris, he came in contact with the avant-garde movement. In 1913, Walden offered him the chance to exhibit his work in the “Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon” in Berlin. Generally, Gestel spent summers in Bergen-Belsen where he joined the Bergen School of painting. When a fire destroyed his studio in 1929, he moved to Blaricum.