Paul Christiaan Bos was born in Haarlem in 1956. He chose to use techniques that are five hundred years old in his work because they are the only way for him to capture the intensity of a landscape, or the character of a person or animal, as deeply as possible. to display. He had to master these obsolete techniques himself. His choice also obliges him to make his own paints.
From famous reference works, manuscripts from the Renaissance and also contacts with the restoration department of the Rijksmuseum, he learned how to make paint correctly over the years.
Paul Christiaan Bos places extreme demands on his work. He is not so much concerned with the detailing as with the color and the “inner light” that the paint must possess. To achieve that he has to work in layers. To bring the paint to life and let it radiate light, as it were, a so-called “withoging” of its special tempera is applied between each layer. This tempera is made from rare balsams and the eggs of his chickens (a 16th-century breed), which have to follow a special diet.
The pigments he uses are often made from hand-mined minerals. Only in this way can he achieve what he strives for, namely that the "sunlight" comes out of the paint, as it were. His works are scattered all over the world.
