" European School (xx) - Oud Amsterdam: Kloveniersburgwal"
- Oil on canvas. - This oil on canvas from the 1970s presents a view of Amsterdam's Kloveniersburgwal canal with a surprisingly simple, almost childlike approach. The canal houses are rendered with clean, smooth forms, overlooking the water without the usual detailed complexity. The facades, stripped of ornamentation, are depicted with simple geometric shapes and a clean, direct line that suggests more than it describes. The canal, calm and bare, almost blends into a horizontal line that separates two blocks of color, a soft contrast between the grays, ochres and blues that dominate the scene. The reflections of the houses in the water, slightly distorted, are suggested more by the juxtaposition of tones than by a play of complex shapes. The atmosphere seems light, almost unreal, as if the canal were a flat surface on which the shapes are projected. Although the work has the air of a naive and simplified illustration, the relationship between tones and forms is not completely foreign to the avant-garde movements of the twentieth century. The reduced palette and the almost abstract treatment of the elements reflect a desire to capture the essence of the place, but without being tied to a faithful representation. Instead of a naturalistic landscape, what is presented is an emotional and subjective interpretation that, by removing details, invites a more immediate and purer visual experience. This approach, which may seem almost naive at first glance, is also a subtle response to more academic forms of representation. The colors are applied with such lightness and the forms are distorted in such a natural way that one could perceive the scene as a sense of place rather than a literal portrait. Ultimately, what this painting captures is the effect of the city on the viewer: a landscape that does not seek to impress with exact details, but with a visual simplification that plays with light and space in a free and evocative way. at the same time, deeply linked to the aesthetics of the avant-garde. - Dimensions of the unframed painting: 92 x 60 cm / 112 x 80 cm with nice frame.