Robert van de Graaf — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

Apr 29

Apr 29 Robert van de Graaf

Biography

Robert van de Graaf (1983) is a Dutch visual artist living and working in The Hague, The Netherlands. He concentrated on developing himself as a visual artist from 13 years old. Van de Graaf followed an intense private painting and drawing training from 1996 to 2001 (until his 18th) with the Dutch artist Erica Meyster (1949 - 2006).
Van de Graaf received a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Architecture (Technical University Delft) in 2009. In 2005 and 2006, he worked as an intern in architecture in New York City. At Steven Learner Studio (founder of ‘Collective Design Fair’) he worked on art-related projects as the ‘Haunch of Venison’ gallery (Rockefeller Center) and ‘The Granary’ (private gallery for the Bucksbaum family), Connecticut, U.S. At the same time he had his studio in West Harlem, New York, where he worked on his oil paintings.
Van de Graaf stopped working as an architect in 2011 to devote himself entirely to his career as a visual artist. He has since produced several theme-based series of artworks, especially oil paintings. Art collectors from the U.S., The Netherlands, and France have purchased his paintings, drawings, and watercolors.

Artist Statement

Robert van de Graaf (1983, The Netherlands) is interested in the connection between the mystical in this world, in all its manifestations, and the sense and the dimension of the spiritual world. Van de Graaf draws his inspiration from myths, mystical places or stories (both from history and present times) and the philosophy of life. He wishes his artworks to provide ‘food’ for the soul, both for himself and the viewer. His artworks give substance to his ongoing journey to seek meaning in life. He transforms the inspiration he draws from these themes into contemporary (symbolic) interpretations while referring to paintings of the old masters such as El Greco’s ‘The Vision of Saint John’ (1608-1614). The paintings move between figuration and abstraction, giving the viewer certain freedom of interpretation. At the same time the intensity of the paintings act like a gaze back at the viewer, a reflection of thoughts, crossing the line from observation to introspection and self-examination. The moment he started to work with oil paint he fell in love with the medium and this continues to grow ever since. Van de Graaf experiences the process of creating as inner battles, freedom and faith.

What first prompted you to think of becoming an artist?

From a very young age, I have been busy with painting/drawing and creating stuff. On my 13th I got some professional art lessons in painting and drawing (from a Dutch artist) as a present from my English grandmother who loved the visual arts.
I really felt comfortable with all the artist materials and I wanted to become an artist, it really made me feel happy and satisfied and the creative process felt natural to me. Unfortunately, I lived up to expectations (stupid me..) and completed studies in Architecture (2009) at the Technical University in Delft before getting back (2011) to my initial dream, being an artist.

What kind of an artist do you ultimately see yourself?

The painting will always be my main practice, I know that for sure. This has become a necessity to live my life the way I like it. My goal is to become an international artist with a lot of high-quality international exhibitions and to reach a wide audience for my artworks. I wish my artworks to be seen by all kinds of people, from different places, young and old. In the future, I would like to keep pushing and exploring the painting practice and to deliver the best artworks I can. I really want to dedicate my life to the arts. I also enjoy creating or designing other stuff. It would be my wish to also create some sculptures or stained glass windows for example, but all connected to the painting practice, that it becomes one story.

What are you hoping to communicate to the viewer through your work?

I wish my artworks to provide ‘food’ for the soul. The artworks should be a (re)discovery for the viewer and to ultimately stimulate a personal deepening. I wish people to connect to the artworks on a deeper (spiritual) level and being able to create their own story and relationship with the artworks. The artworks are an expression of my ongoing journey to seek meaning in life and I hope people find some strength, meaning and faith in them.

Can you explain the process of creating your work?

A new body of work starts with an idea, an inspiration for what the series should be about in general. During the creation of one series the next series is slowly evolving in my mind, it comes to me through the inspiration of the series I am working on at that moment. I make notes of it and after I collect them as a rough storyboard. Sometimes the inspiration is from the philosophy of life, other times it is based on written stories or a specific place or environment. I read about the inspiration or visit the place of inspiration. During that process, painting ideas pop up in my mind as schemes and write them down or make little sketches of them. Short after this, I collect the best painting ideas and elaborate on its inspiration by a sketch or a watercolor. Mostly as a reminder how this initial inspiration came to me. I also determine the composition in this phase, most of the time the first sketch has the best composition.
And then I start to paint within the framework of that inspiration and let the freedom of the painting process do the rest. The whole painting process is like a music composition or symphony, moving from forte to pianissimo, from the violin to the drums. Sometimes very delicate, with very diluted and little paint, sometimes rough and very loud and energetic with thick impasto parts. I also try to express these stages in the way I handle the paint and put it on the canvas.

I always listen to classical or religious music during the creation process like Avro Pärt, Max Richter, Simeon ten Holt, Rachmaninoff (Verspers) and Philip Glass. I always like to think that the music is influencing and is helping the painting process.

What is your favourite part of the creative process?

Definitely the painting process. I just love all the phases of the painting process, the beginning is really great, but also when the painting is truly getting into shape and of course a completion of a painting is always a very special moment, I just love every bit of it.
I love to be totally involved in the paintings, I always set up almost the whole series and after that it is like a dance between the paintings, moving back and forth between them, waiting, looking, action, waiting, feeling, action, thinking, and so on.

Can you give us an insight into current projects and inspiration, or what we can look forward to from you in the near future?

Currently I am working on my new series ‘Stories of Transition’ which I started working on in September 2020. There are 22 paintings in the series, amongst others a triptych (180 x 450 cm) and a whole bunch of study drawings and watercolour study drawings I am working on.
The series is inspired by transition periods in life. Moving from darker, difficult periods into the lighter ones, navigating through life to find your own path and the inner spiritual transitions to grow as a person. The inspiration is semi autobiographical, but this given is not of any importance, as I think that themes like spiritual processes, depression and letting go of the negativity of the past are universal themes which concern a lot of people around the world. Every painting is about a different situation or inner state of mind.

Apart from online presence I would like to continue my search, later on this year, to find a suitable international gallery to represent my artworks.
I will continue to host private studio exhibitions for collectors, who are very welcome to visit my studio in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Website www.robertvandegraaf.com

Instagram @robertvandegraaf