About the artist

“In my small studio by the water I feel like the king of my castle. Like a knight on his horse I charge into battle armed with figments of my imagination, paintbrush poised like a lance, ready to make new creations.”

Born in Deventer, the Netherlands, in 1960, Erik Renssen is an independent Dutch artist. His oeuvre comprises painting, sculpture and graphic works. Working mainly in the figurative tradition, the imagery is never one of pure naturalism. There is always a level of abstraction. With great virtuosity he paints a world of both vibrant and subdued colours. The range of subjects is classical; portrait, still-life, the reclining nude and the occasional landscape. Renssen is inspired by the world that surrounds him, his wife and children, the intimacy of the studio, the pleasure of a dinner- party with good friends but above all he is a fervent admirer of Pablo Picasso:

“He’s the greatest and my daily inspiration. I write my own story on the canvas before me, using the wonderful visual language Picasso gave to us”.

Renssen has internalized Picasso’s visual language and he uses it to paint his own personal stories. Renssen's blonde women are not Marie-Thérèse but rather the women in his own life. The Notre Dame becomes the Rijksmuseum and Paris becomes Amsterdam.
All artworks