Excerpt:
...The ten works by Willem Van
Genk shown at the Slovakian National Museum in Bratislava
earlier this year, were a modest but fascinating selection
from an oeuvre that served its maker for over fifty
years as a way of eluding perceived enemies.
The exhibited paintings and drawings came to light when
Van Genk’s flat in The Hague was cleared out in 1998
after the artist had been forced to move into sheltered
lodgings because of deteriorating health. A collection
of thousands of books and racks of raincoats had converted
his flat into a fortress against the menacing hordes
he believed were plotting to kick down his door and
haul him off to jail.