Toon Kelder was born in Rotterdam in 1894, he died in The Hague in 1973.
He studied at the Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Rotterdam. Kelder stayed in Belgium, France, Spain and North Africa.
From 1924 onwards he lived in The Hague. In the twenties he concentrated mainly on portraits, still lifes, seascapes and landscapes. In the thirties his work became more rarefied.
After 1947 his work changed, diffuse surfaces of colour changed into clearer, more finite colour areas. Through exhibitions by international masters such as Matisse, Modigliani, Picasso and Leger, he arrived at an abstract approach to working.
Through wire sculptures and from 1954 on bronzes. After 1958 Kelder created wooden sculptures clad with copper. From 1950 he produced rather rare geometric-abstract gouaches and oils with a controlled use of colour.
Through his many sojourns in Paris he became well acquainted with the atmosphere of the 'jeune école de Paris'. This finds expression in the important sculptures - (Seuphor: 'Sculpture de ce siécle, dictionnaire de la sculpture moderns, 1959) - Kelder produced in the late fifties and early sixties.