Olav Cleofas van Overbeek was born on May 30, 1946, in the Dutch city of Amersfoort. He received an education in the field of graphics from 1963 too 1967 at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Van Overbeek's reputation concerns the technical aspects in his work: his paintings appear as a trompe-l'oeuil. He achieves his deception of the eye of the viewer through a refined and realistic manner of display of objects. Upon closer inspection the understanding that form, composition, light and colour are more important than the appearance of the material may take place. Nevertheless it is the surface of the object which plays an important role in his works, for it is the concept of reflection which deceives the viewer initially. Although light in and round the objects often seem serene, the source of light itself is always sharply depicted.