Wijga, Jan (December 13, 1902 - December 10, 1978)

Jan Wijga (December 13, 1902 - December 10, 1978), aka Wyga, was a Dutch Art Deco painter, designer, and illustrator active in Holland in the middle part of the 20th century. Wijga worked extensively for KNILM (Royal Dutch Indies Airways) and various beer companies, producing posters and other highly graphic promotional material. We are aware of only 3 cartographic images by Wijga, a map of KNILM routes, a smaller but similar map focusing on Bali/Lombok, and an ethnographic game-map of the world. Wijga's work is typically considered in the context of with other European commercial artists who rose to prominence during the interwar period, including Lucien Boucher, Otto Arpke, Jean Carlu, Paul Colin, and Albert Solon, among others. Their work took advantage of advancements in color printing made before and during World War I (1914 - 1918) to issue stunning large format maps with large intense solid color blocks and eye-popping graphics.