Reijer Johan Antonie Stolk was a graphic artist, painter, sculptor and inventor. Stolk was born on Java. He migrated from East Java to the Netherlands between the ages of three and twelve. In 1910 he enrolled in the Applied Arts School in Haarlem. In 1930 he embarked on a trip to the Gold Coast and Nigeria to study patterns on clothing fabrics. This journey had a major impact on his artistic work. In 1910 he was enrolled at the Applied Arts School in Haarlem. His teachers there were Chris Lebeau, Eduard August von Saher and his later friend Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita. He is a schoolmate of Maurits Cornelis Escher. His teachers describe Stolk as the most talented student in the school. Stolk obtained an MO certificate in drawing at the Rijks-Normaalschool in Amsterdam and subsequently became a drawing teacher in Haarlem. He lived in Vienna from 1922-1926. Stolk was not very commercially minded and did not exhibit often. He often sufficed by sending a print to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the RKD in The Hague. However, his work can also be found in various museums, including in Assen. Recent prints were made by the Printing Museum Meppel and Toon Wegner, Orvelte. Stolk was best known for two books. Poet-The Splurger-Titaantjes by Nescio. Haarlem, J.H. de Bois, 1918, and Anatomical studies in woodcuts, Amsterdam, G.W. Breughel, 1946. His mural on the ship the Nieuw Amsterdam is also often cited, as is his mural The resurrection of Enschede after the fire of 1862 in the mayor's chamber in Enschede. His unusual page layouts have been much discussed.