He was born in Groningen, but according to the RKD his parents moved to Haarlem when he was four, where he lived the rest of his life.
He was married to Katherina Martin and they had 6 daughters and 4 sons.
During the Second World War, he used his skills to forge papers for Jewish people.
He was a member of the Amsterdam artist societies Arti et Amicitiae, Hollandse Aquarellisten Kring, Nederlandse Kring van Tekenaars, and Federatie van Verenigingen van Beroeps Beeldende Kunstenaars, and the Haarlem-based Kunst zij ons doel until 1948, when he joined the Teisterbant club of Godfried Bomans.
In 1951 he helped start up De Groep and was its chairman for over 15 years.