Exhibition “Return of the Still-life”
Dear Doreen,
“Das Stillleben kehrt zurück” was the title of my solo-exhibition in Osnabrück during the Autumn of 2015. Still life painting returns! I fully appreciate, of course, that such a claim may seem rather remarkable to say the least, but in a sense it was true enough, for my chosen genre of painting for many years has been pretty much absent from the art scene in this part of Germany.
Vernissage, opening word by Mr Gerald Nierste, chairman of the Art Forum in Nordhorn. Picture copyright © 2015 Galerie Letsah, Osnabrück.
Slowly, though, the tide is turning. The largest nationwide dealer of art supplies has published, in its most recent magazine, a feature article on still life painting, and more and more people in my country of residence are starting to understand that abstract painting does not on its own define the meaning of the word ‘art’. Realism has never been absent in most countries in Europe, but in most of Germany, mainstream art galleries are not inclined to exhibit still life painting. To a lesser extent even Landscape painting is frowned upon and this aversion to realistic painting seems well entrenched.
Ancestors
The Osnabrück Newspaper announced my exhibition with an article with the sub-head “In the tradition of the ancestors”, meaning, of course, in the tradition of Dutch and Flemish painters of times past. You did not hear me complain! I do aim to paint in the tradition of the Dutch (and French) master painters, and I was, I must admit, rather proud to read that others actually notice enough quality in my paintings to even make the comparison.
The full article in the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung can be found here: NOZ – Das Stillleben kehrt zurück
Extension
The exhibition had originally been planned to run for six weeks, but my paintings were so well received, not just admired, but more importantly leading to red dots, that gallery owners Bright Letsah and Hinrich van Hülsen decided to extend for another 6 weeks.
FB announcement, copyright © 2015 Galerie Letsah, Osnabrück.
All in all a good show. It felt really good to share my paintings with a lot of people in the wider area, and to notice my work is being appreciated.