Visiting Clé Moormann in Scheveningen, not far from the Congress Centre, I see many paintings hanging. In the hall and in the living room, which also serves as his studio. He is working on his latest piece, a portrait of Elvis. The paintings in the hall are his, but in the living room there are also works by other Hague painters, including Maayke Schuitema and Kancho Kanev, originally from Bulgaria.
Clé Moormann was the driving force behind bringing together the artist collective Rathpack, the Rock ‘n roll Art The Hague, which has already exhibited three times. The first two times at Galerie Lissabon in The Hague and the third time at the Clayton Hotel in Amsterdam, better known as Americain. This latest exhibition is on view until June 5.
Painting Lesson
He paints the world of jazz, pop & rock, the music he appreciates most. He is a great music lover. “I am a child of my time. I enjoy being involved with music; I have a fascination with pop and rock music. But also with jazz. I tried playing the piano in the past, even took lessons, but that’s as far as it went.”
He started drawing and painting again during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. “I had retired in 2019. What am I supposed to do now?” After a period of getting back into the swing of things, he received a tip from his daughter, Amy Moormann, an accomplished artist herself, to start taking lessons again with Victor Hoefnagels.
Quite soon, he began painting musicians. “The Rolling Stones, particularly Keith Richards. He has a specific presence and is easy to draw and paint. He represents our contemporary pop and rock culture. Then came the others: Bowie, Mick, Tina, Sting, Bruce, Prince, and other icons of pop and rock music.”
He says he learns a lot from Victor Hoefnagels. “He is a true mentor. I still take lessons from him.” In addition, he is an art-loving member of Pulchri. There he came into contact with Arjan van Gent, who was making a name for himself drawing pop musicians. Together with Victor, also a music lover and rock art painter, the possibilities of a joint exhibition were explored. Patricia Steur was already in the process of preparing an exhibition with Arjan, and she joined in as well. Artist couple Els and Marcel (Marcello) van den Dop completed the group.
Jan van Heel
Clé had a thing for drawing, because at secondary school, the Johan de Witt College on Nieuwe Duinweg in Scheveningen, drawing was a mandatory part of the curriculum. His drawing teacher was Jan van Heel, a well-known Hague painter. “He had his studio at the school. He was a good teacher, with a lot of enthusiasm. He was part of the New Hague School; he was even one of the founders of this art movement of the previous century.”
Architecture
He took that experience into account when choosing to study Architecture in Delft. There, a lot of hand drawing was still done, which gradually decreased as computers took over much of that work. Portrait and figure drawing were subjects he took, where he came into contact with various drawing and painting techniques (charcoal, watercolor, gouache, etc.).
In his profession, he was also able to occasionally express his creativity. “I was working in the field of project development. Contributing to designs and subsequently realization was my profession as a developer. In The Hague, I helped with the Strijkijzer at Rijswijkseplein, Nieuw Spoorwijk, and Stellenboschstraat near the Haagse Markt.”
Rathpack’s first exhibition
It seemed like a good idea to him to organize something together centered on the theme of music. “Arjan was busy setting up an exhibition at Pulchri, together with photographer Patricia Steur. They were willing to participate, as was Victor. Els & Marcello, the well-known Hague artist couple, also joined in.”
“We really experienced it all, the music of the 60s and beyond.” And so the first exhibition came about in 2024, at Gallery Lisbon.
“It is really fun to do those exhibitions,” he says. “They are reasonably successful. And there was interest from the media; the daily newspapers, in particular, managed to find us.”
George Kooymans
A painting by him of Golden Earring guitarist George Kooymans was auctioned at the last exhibition in Lisbon for the benefit of the ALS Fund. “Cesar Zuiderwijk thought it was a beautiful painting.” It was purchased by the Transvaal Pharmacy, which manufactures its own medicines. George obtained his medicines there. During the Golden Earring’s farewell tour, a portion of the proceeds also went to the ALS Fund.”
Painting the musicians has evolved into a fun hobby. “I never expected it to lead to this.”
Finally, what is his artistic philosophy?
Clé Moormann: “You must be involved with what you create. If you are working with art, you must be passionate.”
Images: 1) Keith 2) Hands of Keith, 3) Mick, 4) Prince, 5) Bruce, 6) Freddie, 7) Miles, 8) Sting, 9) George, 10) Clé Moormann
https://rathpack.nl/cle-moormann/
https://marcellos.nl/
https://www.facebook.com/cle.moormann
https://inzaken.eu/index.php/2026/04/11/cle-moormann-schildert-de-iconen-van-de-pop-rockmuziek/
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