In August 1956 his parents had already made arrangements for the funeral of their seven year old child suffering from bone marrow cancer. As by miracle Jean Thomassen survived, recovered with difficulty and had an isolated and lonely youth. His father's encyclopedia was his only support. Here lies the origin of his interest for paintings. He applied in vain for the Academy and for alI artists supporting arrangements. Nevertheless he followed his destiny. In 1972 he lived in Amsterdam in an attic, complete unworldly environment and under appalling circumstances.

The well known ballerina and movie actress Ine Veen saw his work in 1974. She opened doors Jean always had found tightly closed. Ine Veen arranged his debut at gallery Artim and persuaded the Dutch TV to make a film about the painters life and work. The day after the broadcast he sold aIl his work.

Ine insisted Jean joining international competitions with his absurd canvasses. His work was awarded with Prize Awards in America, Canada and Bulgaria. The appreciation by artcritics for these strange paintings are very diverse. Some critics thought Thomassen must be a runaway from some lunatic asylum. How can a normal human being think in such an anomalous way? Another ended his torrent of abuse with the remark: 'Can I puke here or do I have to do that outside?' Though other art critics describe Thomassen as a genius and consider him the most important realistic painter of the nineties in the Netherlands.

'Work that is so notorious must be very special'  and the director of Museum 'the Markiezenhof', the palace where long ago, the Marquis of Bergen op Zoom had his residence honored 'the master of absurd art' with a large exposition covering his complete oeuvre. Jean Thomassen became internationally renowned by a commemorative exhibition in honor of the ballerina Anna Pavlova ( 188 I -1931 ). Thomassen wrote a sensational biography that created a lot of publicity both in England and Russia. Even CNN interviewed the painter and his muse Ine. With the passing of the years Thomassen has grown into one of the most successful realistic painters. His Works are seldom on show in galleries because they are most of the time bought by collectors and investors straight from the easel, the paint still wet. He made large canvasses for the industry. Museums in the Netherlands, Bulgaria and Russia own his works. 'Ine's left eye' measuring only 1,2 x 1,2 mm is the tiniest oilpainting in the world and has been recorded in Guiness Book of Records. In 2019 almost 5000 visitors honored Jean for his 70th's birthday during a retrospective exposition in museum Slager 's Hertogenbosch Netherlands.