Numerous women and men have come forward to accuse the Dutch artist Julian Andeweg of rape, assault, theft and stalking. The allegations – covering a period of 14 years – are detailed in a three-month investigation by Dutch newspaper NRC.
Andeweg, aged 34, has refused to comment on the accusations, according to the report.
The artist graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 2012, before attending the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in 2015. Many of the allegations date back to his time studying, alongside more recent claims.
NRC spoke to several women who declared to police that they had been raped, as well as victims of assault and domestic violence; one woman, with whom Andeweg was living with, says she was beaten or kicked almost every week for two years. The newspaper describes a figure who played on his ‘bad boy’ image in the artworld.
The paper cites Andeweg’s gallerist Martin van Zomeren, as responding to claims about the artist: ‘I am not his father. I like his work and it sells.’ Andeweg no longer features on the gallery’s website however.
The Rijksakadamie denies 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. We are taking action to research if there were cases that were unreported during this time, and will do our utmost to support anyone who was affected, as well as future investigations.’
