'Dag In, Dag Uit'.
Marc Terstroet was a Dutch freelance illustrator, and a longtime teacher at the Willem de Kooning Art Academy in Rotterdam. His artwork appeared in Trouw, NRC Handelsblad, De Groene Amsterdammer and De Volkskrant, where during the 1980s, he made an abstract comic strip for the weekly Dag In Dag Uit section.
Early life
Born in 1948 in The Hague, Marc Terstroet studied Graphic Design at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague (1965-1969) and then Visual Communication at the Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam (1970-1973). During his studies, he experimented with animation, where he developed a preference for clean, simple characters.
From the 'Album' series in NRC.
Professional career
After graduation, Terstroet began working as a freelance Amsterdam-based illustrator, cartoonist and designer. For the newspaper Trouw and the magazine De Groene Amsterdammer, he made illustrations to accompany news reports, where he mostly enjoyed the humane subjects. For NRC Handelsblad, he made the cartoon series 'Album'. Terstroet's artwork also appeared in the magazines Hollandse Hoogte and Quote. Additional clients included Slagwerkgroep and the postal service PTT Post. In addition, he designed stage sets for the Maarten Altena Ensemble, including for his own production 'Tableau Vivant'.
As an illustrator, Marc Terstroet worked with the famous animal story writer Toon Tellegen, for instance on 'Mijn Avonturen, door V. Swchwrm', the 1998 gift during the annual Children's Book Week. The book was reprinted by Querido in 2004. In 2016, he also illustrated Toon Tellegen's recipe book 'Het Grote Taartenboek'.
'Dag In, Dag Uit'. Translation: "Been quite lucky."
Abstract cartoonist
During the 1980s, Terstroet made an abstract cubist comic strip for the popular section 'Dag In Dag Uit' in the weekend edition of newspaper De Volkskrant. Replacing the topical cartoons of Stefan Verwey, Terstroet's "characters" were geometric figures like triangles, sticks and circles, who appear in surreal situations. Collections of these strips were published by Ypsilon Press (1983) and Artopus (1986), with only the latter having a title, 'Ik Zal Het Nog Een Keer Uitleggen'. Other artists who have experimented with abstract comics are Roberto Altmann, Maurice Rosy, Lewis Trondheim, Andrei Molotiu, Roger Price, Wasco and Rino Feys.
Marc Terstroet's contribution to 'Een Hollands Drama' (1991).
Graphic contributions
In 1991, Terstroet participated in the thematic series 'Een Hollands Drama' ("A Dutch Drama") of newspaper De Volkskrant, in which 10 Dutch artists were challenged to create a comic page starting with the sentence "That day there was a strong breeze on the dike". The other participating artists were Peter van Dongen, Lian Ong, Eric Heuvel, Paul Bodoni, Bert van der Meij, Peter de Smet, Paul Teng and Peter Pontiac. In 2006, Terstroet paid homage to Marten Toonder in the tribute book 'Was Tom Poes Maar Hier - Een Hommage aan Marten Toonder' by De Bezige Bij.
Illustration for Trouw, 9 September 1995.
Teacher
Between 1 August 1977 and 1 September 2011, Terstroet was a teacher with the Willem de Kooning Art Academy in Rotterdam. In his 2026 obituary, his former colleagues described him as dedicated and innovative, and always up to date with the latest developments in his profession. During his time with the academy, he worked in all sorts of sections, including Idea & Concept Development, Visual Communication, Illustration, Fashion and Animation. A critical but original teacher, he challenged his students in creative thinking and reframing. Several of his former students later became colleagues.
Death
An avid traveler, Marc Terstroet died in 2026 in Brussels as a result of an accident during one of his many trips. He was 78 years old. He was survived by his sister, graphic designer and also former Willem de Kooning teacher Pia Terstroet.
Marc Terstroet, photographed by Pieter van Oudheusden for Stripschrift #216 (1987).