They depict a variety of people, including children, clowns, athletes, dancers, mothers, and lovers.

[2] He took painting lessons with Gerrit van ’t Net from 1958 to 1963, and from Dirk Bus at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague.

[1] In 1964, he had his first exposition in the Haarlem Vleeshal (the former municipal meat market), now belonging to the Frans Hals Museum.

[1] His big breakthrough came three years later when American photographer David Douglas Duncan bought several of his bronze statues and showed them to his friends.

[1] Verkade then proceeded to become an internationally recognized artist, and many local associations bought his work.