Picture this: Peter De Graaff

The presentation of Peter De Graaff’s work fits within the idea of closely following the work of foreign artists within the Picture This program. The selection consists of a coherent yet varied series of paintings. His works are best described as romantic in nature and baroque in appearance. Usually, an interior takes center stage. The representation is based on historical interiors where he often has only a black-and-white illustration to work with. Motifs on wallpaper, floors, or draperies are the key elements in his paintings. What initially appears as motifs painted with stencils from a distance turns out to be formed with rapid brushstrokes up close.

Peter De Graaff is a true painter in the sense that he is primarily concerned with color, form, and composition. Exceptional colors are created, color combinations are sought, and compositions are determined by the superposition of planes and shapes. The different layers with which Peter De Graaff constructs his paintings are transparent, allowing the transition from one layer to another to remain visible.

The images lack characters, but their traces are traceable and suggest a reconstructable story. The interiors themselves appear dated, giving them a sense of melancholy and mystery. This atmosphere is further enhanced by the colorful, abstract layers applied over and under the interior painting. They obscure the figurative representation, which seems to be on the verge of disappearing permanently.

In contrast to many contemporaries, Peter De Graaff’s work has nothing to do with socially or historically charged themes or repressed memory images. In his work, Peter De Graaff seeks beauty, drama, adventure, and tragedy. The tension between the illusion of the representation and the reality of the painting recalls the work of French artists such as Henri Lesidaner, Edouard Vuillard, and Pierre Bonnard. At the same time, it also aligns with a contemporary painting tradition: the horizontal and vertical brushstrokes emphasize flatness, which can be seen as a modernist gesture. In this light, Peter De Graaff’s work relates in a very special way to classical and contemporary painting and is an extremely personal exploration of the complex relationship between the painting, space, and the viewer.