Dutch artist Julian Andeweg has dropped his appeal against a rape, assault and abuse conviction, and will serve twenty months in prison, eight months of which are conditional.
Andeweg was found guilty of three of the six charges brought against him. The judge ruled at the time that ‘The case paints a picture of a dominant man who, under the influence of narcotics, is primarily concerned with what he wants and does not take others into account.’
Andeweg’s conviction followed an investigation by Dutch newspaper NRC in which several women said they had been raped or assaulted by the artist, including a onetime girlfriend. The newspaper described a figure who played on his ‘bad boy’ image in the artworld.
Several of the incidents date back to the artist’s time studying at Rijksakadamie. At the time the school denied prior knowledge of misconduct. In a statement, they said: ‘No cases of sexual harassment or rape were reported to the team during Andeweg’s time at the Rijksakademie, and there were no known indications that there was a history of this behaviour.’
