He initially worked with his father as a decorative painter. Subsequently, he attended the School of Arts and Crafts. Then he continued his education, especially in the panel painting. Van Beek was active in various places in northern Holland. At first he was in
Katwijk aan Zee until 1907, then he had a studio in Amsterdam. From 1911, he went to Kortenhoef (Wijdemeren), where he remained until 1931. Finally, his wandering ended in
Vreeland (Stichtse Vecht), where he worked as a painter until his death in the year 1941 at the age of 66 years. In Kortenhoef, he met
Paul Gabriël, who had the major influence on his early work. He brought him up to new issues such as the
water lily landscapes in the
polder area and the issue of
peat. There he met
Evert Pieters and
Jan Hillebrand Wijsmuller. These teachers of the Hague School had a significant influence on his painting style and the perfection of his training. On his palette, he chose consciously always those mediums which produced a strong surface light. This followed the tradition of the Hague School 2nd generation. Even the winter face has not the usual darkness. Its luminosity is expressed with selected colours quality combined with the wet into wet technique with loose, fluid brushwork. This is a result of the surface of the canvas and the pigments with its binder. In the paintings of the city face he orientated almost towards to
Jan Vermeer (1632–1675), like "The street of
Delft" and
Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde (1638–1698), like "Place at the St. Bravo Church in
Haarlem". His chosen colors are a sensitive modification of the Hague School 2nd generation. Especially the selected, graded shade of blue as a message of the trapped atmosphere is a characteristic of him. The screen layout is corresponding to the former kind of the old Dutch landscape painting - he rises from bottom left to top right. The horizon of his Pictures moves from the lower third, over the middle to upper third. == Paintings==