In 1923 the Japanese architect Sutemi Horiguchi went on a tour of Europe and visited the Netherlands. He was the most important founder of the Bunriha movement that wanted to change Japanese architecture. Horiguchi was very impressed by modern Dutch architecture and especially the Amsterdam School.

Michel de Klerk was the great inspirer of the Amsterdam School, the Dutch expressionist movement in architecture. Besides a brilliant architect he was also a versatile artist. 'The Rembrandt among architects' made drawings and paintings and designed furniture and interiors. De Klerk created an innovative language of forms and brought beauty to the working class. This book reveals the versatility of his work through lavish images and quotes from De Klerk himself and his contemporaries.