Wilhelm Alexander Knip (Amsterdam 1883-1967 Blaricum) is seen as one of the greatest painters and draftsmen of the Laren School. He was trained as a decorative painter at the Quellinus Arts and Crafts School and in Haarlem with Chris Lebeau. To get rid of that, he went to Paris and the Gooi. He settled in Laren in 1905 and traveled through France, Italy and Spain in the 1920s; also to expand its working and sales channel. He developed an impressionistic style and his coloring became lighter and airier. He painted, watercolored and drew landscapes, harbor and city views in pastel.

After the war he became increasingly successful, especially with his landscapes and village views, which he easily sold at home and abroad. This allowed him to have a house and studio built in Blaricum at Torenlaan no. 57 by architect H.C. Elzinga. He himself called it “De Knip”.

He was a member of Arti et Amicitiae, the Sint Lucas Artists' Association and the Gooische Painters' Association. He exhibited several times and won the Sint-Lucas Prize (1942) and the Arti Medal (1953). He himself taught Adri and Gretha Pieck and J.R.T. Philippi. He was only part of Tien's club in Laren, in. the year 1918. The Van Abbemuseum and the Singer Museum have work by him.