Cornelis Makkink was born in Amsterdam in 1940, he studied photography in Sweden for a year in 1966 because he wanted to become a freelance fashion photographer. Shortly thereafter he returned to painting and moved to the UK with his brother Herman, where they both shared a studio space at St Katharine's docks in London. The Makkink brothers' notoriety was mostly due to the fact that nine of Cornelis' paintings and two of Herman's sculptures featured in Stanley Kubrick's movie "A Clockwork Orange" in 1971. Indeed, Kubrick was looking for ideas at the time for his upcoming movie and ended up visiting the brothers' gallery.
Makkink's art is a mixture of pop-art and "grotesque", in his paintings softporn pin-ups are shown with exaggerated features in zany situations. His work definitely play a part in pop-art history along with artists like Allen Jones.
Cornelis Makkink's paintings in "A Clockwork Orange" dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1971.
Herman Makkink's "Rocking Machine" sculpture (1969) in "A Clockwork Orange" dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1971.
Herman Makkink's "Christ Unlimited" sculpture (1970) in "A Clockwork Orange" dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1971.