Persona

Wyers, Jan Gerrit, 1888-1973

Jan Gerrit Wyers was born on July 20, 1888 in Emmer, The Netherlands. He left school at the age of 12 to work on his father's farm. On February 18, 1913 he left for the United States with three friends. He worked as a hired hand and on threshing crews in North Dakota and South Dakota until 1916 when he moved to Canada and bought a quarter section of land at Windthorst, Saskatchewan. Jan Wyers started painting in 1937-38 to keep himself busy during the cold winters. His first exhibition was in 1956. He exhibited 'The First Saskatchewan Harvest' and 'These Good Old Thrashing Days' in the seventh annual Saskatchewan Art Exhibition sponsored by the Saskatchewan Arts Board and held at the Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina. He received an Award of Merit for the 'The First Saskatchewan Harvest'. In 1959, eight of Jan Wyer's paintings were included in the National Gallery of Canada's exhibition 'Folk Painters of the Canadian West' which toured to galleries throughout Canada and the United States. Through these exhibitions and articles in 'Canadian Art', 'artscanada' and 'Time', Wyers gained national recognition for his 'naive' style of folk art. He remained in Windthorst for most of his life until he developed Parkinson's disease and had to move to a nursing home in 1970. He died in Regina July 4, 1973.