Peter de Graaff

Some recent solo exhibitions
Suzanne Biederberg Gallery, Amsterdam 2010, 'Still I look to find a reason. Paintings and Manoeuvres'
Van Wijngaarden Hakkens, Amsterdam 2008, 'Gobelins & manoeuvres'
Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle 2006, 'Picture this! - 4: Peter de Graaff'
Galerie Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam 2004
Galerie Clara Rainhorn, Brussel 2000,'Schilderijen'

Some recent group exhibitions
Museum Elisabeth Weeshuis, Culemborg 2005, 'Lek Art tussentijds'
Stedelijk Museum Roermond 1998, 'Het Venijn van de Muze', Collectie Henk en Leonie Pijnenburg

Selected publications
Louis Lucker, Rutger Pontzen, Océ-van der Grinten Collection: Young art 1990-1996, Maastricht: Bonnefantenmuseum, 1996
Karin Feenstra, Luk Lambrecht, Tussen nachtegaal en leeuwerik: [schilders uit Vlaanderen en Nederland], Amsterdam: Vlaams Cultureel Centrum de Brakke Grond 1994
The Wall, Amsterdam: Sotheby's Art Foundation 1994

Selected public and corporate collections
Kunstcollectie Stichting Océ Kunstbezit, NL

In the paintings of Peter de Graaff the Baroque interior is crucial. The 'melancholic' atmosphere is enhanced by the colourful, abstract layers beneath and over the interior painting. Figurative elements are veiled and seem to have disappeared for good. The various layers of which his paintings are built, are transparent; the passage from one layer to another is visible. There is a constant tension between the illusory spatiality of the scene, the saturated skin of the flat canvas and the actual space beyond the painting. De Graaff recently explicitly investigated this interaction, also through the formats in which he works. Where he previously concentrated primarily on large canvases, in past years he has begun to work increasingly in a smaller format. 'On a smaller format, one is closer to the (intimate) narrative, which becomes lodged in the brain like a precious stone. The larger canvases call for an exchange, and invite to step in and out of the painting. Main paintings have a romantic character, and Baroque appearance. I want to give the viewer beauty, drama, adventure and tragedy – which are not typically Dutch themes.' De Graaff is both Modernist and colourist.

Peter de Graaff  was resident artist at the Rijksakademie in 1990-1992.

www.peterdegraaff.com