Niels Hamel (22 August 1933 – 14 January 2023, Amsterdam NL), descendent of a line of artists and actors, began his career as an artist in the 1950s. Initially influenced by the Flemish expressionists Permeke, Brusselmans and James Ensor, he later increasingly looked to postwar American art for inspiration, particularly the action paintings of artists like Pollock and De Kooning. In the Netherlands, it was the COBrA group that had the most influence on his artistic development. In those years, still young and searching, he did not take part in that group’s activities. However, their influence is clearly evident in his colouring and manner of working.

From the 1960s onward, he concentrated on collaborating with other disciplines, at first architecture and later especially theatre. On commission from the Dutch state and various municipal governments, he realised wall paintings, mosaics and concrete reliefs in public buildings. His main focus in this regard was to integrate his work as an artist with other disciplines. Particularly in his work with theatre, he tried to carry the integration of his scenographic designs with drama through to its ultimate conclusion.

For almost 40 years, from 1957 to 1996, he was responsible for the design of numerous professional theater productions in addition to his autonomous work as an artist.

Niels Hamel’s work is represented in national and international collections, including the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands Theater Institute, the Stichting Beeldende Kunst (Foundation for Visual Arts), the Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia USA and in private collections.

He studied Fine and Monumental Art at the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam from 1952 to 1956, after which he continued his artistic research for two years in Paris and Antwerp with study grants from the French and Belgian governments.
Niels Hamel was a guest lecturer at Artibus Utrecht , the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam.

From 1994 to 1999 he was artistic director of the Masters of Art in Scenography study programme, a collaboration between the HKU University of the Arts in Utrecht and the Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design in London.