Bus stop, Alkyd and oil paint on linen, 40 x 85 cm.

Bus stop, Alkyd and oil paint on linen, 40 x 85 cm.

Talus

Lighting phenomenon

Rome at dusk
Rondzwervende nachtschilder / Wandering artist of the night
Maarten Welbergen
29 Apr till 8 May 2017
Opening: Saturday 29 Apr 2017 — 17:00 till 19:00 hrs

"7 am on a frosty autumn morning
Fog is still hanging low
I’m not the only one waiting for the bus!
Nights and early mornings are the most poetic moments of the day.
Especially when the fog is hanging low and everything gets blurred.
When streetlamp-lights become iridescent light-balls floating in the sky.
Everything is silent and everybody is still asleep.
These are the moments when I wander around to find my motives to draw and paint."

This exhibition shows Maarten Welbergen's most recent travel drawings, watercolours and drawings and paintings of the night. He calls that last series of work ‘Nocturnes’.

The subject is ‘Nocturne’, a musical definition that well describes Welbergen’s fascinating night scenes. The effects of artificial light in deep dark surroundings with mysterious shades triggers Welbergen’s inspiration.

The artist also organizes a lecture about ‘Artists of the Night’. Throughout the history of art, from the late Middle Ages onwards, artists have been inspired to depict night scenes. Sometimes they were inspired by Bible-texts and sometimes by a Romantic ‘Empfindung’. The magic of twilight, moonlight and of artificial light casting long shadows has always triggered the imagination of certain artists. This lecture is also about what is happening in the mind of Maarten Welbergen himself, during his nocturnal wanderings to search subjects for his paintings.

Maarten Welbergen (1956) is rooted in the (painting) tradition, while at the same time searching for the artistic boundaries of this tradition. He paints and draws portraits, landscapes, still lifes and allegorical subjects. One of his specialties is the ‘cut-out’ by which he cuts the shape out of a wooden panel and paints it so as to enhance the effect of ‘trompe l’oeil’.

The exhibition is open on Sunday April 30th, Wednesday May 3th, Saturday May 6th and Sunday May 7th from 14:00 to 18:00 hrs and also by appointment.

The lecture 'Artists of the night' is on Sunday the 7th of May from 20:00 to 21:30 hrs.

Maarten Welbergen also answered 'A Question.'

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Bus stop, Alkyd and oil paint on linen, 40 x 85 cm.

Talus

Lighting phenomenon

Rome at dusk