Jef Diederen (Heerlen, 25 augustus 1920 – Amsterdam, 26 maart 2009) was a Dutch painter and graphic artist. Diederen was part of the so-called Amsterdam Limburgers. His later painting is classified as abstract art. From 1939 to 1943, he attended the Middelbare Kunstnijverheidsschool in Maastricht, where he met Pieter Defesche and Ger Lataster. He continued his education at the Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam in 1943, but left a year later and returned in 1947. He participated in the group exhibition Amsterdamse schilders van Nu in 1948 and completed his studies in 1951. In Amsterdam, he met Karel Appel and Corneille as his classmates, in addition to Lataster. Until 1955, he mostly painted landscape gouaches and drawings. These are predominantly realistic landscapes from his native region of South Limburg. Afterwards, he developed himself – like Ger Lataster – in an abstract direction, although the landscape remained a great source of inspiration for him. The dimensions of his oil paintings were often idiosyncratic and therefore stood out. He also combined canvases of various sizes with each other. The art of Jef Diederen is lyrical-abstract with a friendly and gentle appearance, despite the strong colors. France has been an important source of inspiration for him. As an independent artist, he never actively sought to align himself with groups or movements. In addition to his many paintings and works on paper, he also carried out various commissions for murals and stained glass windows. He also taught at the Kunstacademie van Den Bosch.
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