Ko Verzuu
Jacobus Johannes Josephus (Ko) Verzuu led the ADO workshops at the municipality of Utrecht as construction supervisor. In the workshops of Berg en Bosch sanatorium, wooden toys were made from 1925 to 1962, including cars, furniture, building blocks, trains and doll beds. Ko Verzuu was the designer of the coveted toy.
He had immersed himself in architecture and visual art and had developed a strong preference for the abstract lines and bright colors, which can also be found among the followers of De Stijl, including Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg, Vilmos Huszár, Bart van de Leck, Jacobus Johannes Pieter (Ko) Oud and Gerrit Rietveld. This group of architects and artists was active between 1917 and the early 1930s, creating abstract artworks, architecture and furniture in the primary colors red, blue and yellow. Ko Verzuu's doll furniture is strongly inspired by the clean lines and colors used by architect Gerrit Rietveld.
Verzuu tested the quality of his toys with his own team of children. The toys were sold in the better toy stores in the Netherlands, such as Metz & Co. and De Bijenkorf. Ado toys were already expensive and a great success because of their shape and durability, until the cheaper plastic toys took over in the 1950s. The workshop in Berg en Bosch (Bilthoven) was closed in 1962 after 30 years.
In 2012 Verzuu's work was exhibited at the "Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900-2000" exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. In the same year, the CODA museum in Apeldoorn dedicated an exhibition "Ado Toys plays well" to his designs. The Coda Museum Apeldoorn has the largest collection of Ado toys in the world.
Literature
Toys Ado Toys, Frederike Huygen, Boymans-van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, 1994.
Jacobus Johannes Josephus (Ko) Verzuu led the ADO workshops at the municipality of Utrecht as construction supervisor. In the workshops of Berg en Bosch sanatorium, wooden toys were made from 1925 to 1962, including cars, furniture, building blocks, trains and doll beds. Ko Verzuu was the designer of the coveted toy.
He had immersed himself in architecture and visual art and had developed a strong preference for the abstract lines and bright colors, which can also be found among the followers of De Stijl, including Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg, Vilmos Huszár, Bart van de Leck, Jacobus Johannes Pieter (Ko) Oud and Gerrit Rietveld. This group of architects and artists was active between 1917 and the early 1930s, creating abstract artworks, architecture and furniture in the primary colors red, blue and yellow. Ko Verzuu's doll furniture is strongly inspired by the clean lines and colors used by architect Gerrit Rietveld.
Verzuu tested the quality of his toys with his own team of children. The toys were sold in the better toy stores in the Netherlands, such as Metz & Co. and De Bijenkorf. Ado toys were already expensive and a great success because of their shape and durability, until the cheaper plastic toys took over in the 1950s. The workshop in Berg en Bosch (Bilthoven) was closed in 1962 after 30 years.
In 2012 Verzuu's work was exhibited at the "Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900-2000" exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. In the same year, the CODA museum in Apeldoorn dedicated an exhibition "Ado Toys plays well" to his designs. The Coda Museum Apeldoorn has the largest collection of Ado toys in the world.
Literature
Toys Ado Toys, Frederike Huygen, Boymans-van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, 1994.
Ko Verzuu
1901 (Utrecht, The Netherlands)
1971 (Bilthoven, The Netherlands)
Construction supervisor & toy designer
1901 (Utrecht, The Netherlands)
1971 (Bilthoven, The Netherlands)
Construction supervisor & toy designer
