Reint Tonnis de Jonge (Born in Amsterdam, 20 April 1931 – died in Noordwijkerhout, 30 October 1993) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, illustrator, and designer.
His working period was from 1946 - 1993 in Amsterdam, Heemstede, Haarlem and De Zilk (Noordwijkerhout).
He studied at the Quellinus School of Applied Arts in Amsterdam and the National academy of pictorial arts in Amsterdam. His subjects included naval army, seascapes, ships, landscapes, Christian religious scenes and portraits. Reint, who by profession was actually a painter of seascapes and portraits, became known for his illustrations in Evert Kuijt's children's and toddlers' bible, his work for the religious broadcasting union, and especially for his many book covers of (Christian) novels. He also drew the 20 full-page illustrations in the publication of M. A. van Seijen: Rise and War of the Workers' Movement in Friesland. He was a member of the Dutch association of marine painters.
So, in short you can say that Reint de Jonge was fascinated by the Bible and the sea.
Reint was also often found in Ireland, where he was very interested in nature and landscape. He also looked like a sailor, with his striking grey ''head'', ring beard and pipe. In fact, he has owned and sailed 2 sailing boats in his life.
Reint had to paint ''for a living'' so he made book covers, many commissioned portraits and so on, but his heart lay with painting the sea and everything around it. However, partly because of his work on Kuijt's children's bibles, he also became very interested in Israel and the world of the Bible. He painted (watercolours) this biblical world beautifully, even before he had ever visited Israel.
As an illustrator, maritime artist and portraitist he was certainly gifted, but he never needed to play the ''artist''. This may have distinguished him from colleagues who do not want to be corrected by anything or anyone, because their artistic vision would be elevated above all criticism. De Jonge, especially as an illustrator, was amiable and pliable.
If publishers were sometimes critical of his proposed illustrations, he was always willing to look for other creative solutions. I remember discussions about illuminating the birth story of Jesus in Bethlehem. Some members of the committee wanted an illustration of Lukas 2 without the new-born Child. Reint, who had no problem with depicting Jesus as a baby in a crib, sought and found a solution that was acceptable to everyone, with a shining light source as the centre. Even when depicting the Crucified, he was able to satisfy all without an artistically unacceptable concession for him. He realized that the illustrator is not an autonomous artist on a pedestal, but a servant, also to the Word and the church.
