Peter J. Sterkenburg

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sydney Harbor
Whale hunting

Peter J. Sterkenburg (born December 15, 1955 in Harlingen , † April 23, 2000 in Zurich (Friesland) ) was a Dutch sea painter.

Life

Sterkeburg's father was a seaman. After serving in the Dutch army, he decided to become a professional painter. Sterkenburg initially restricted itself to simple, free designs. Images of chickens, nude studies, landscapes and also surrealistic pictures come from this period. He later developed a unique, easily recognizable, romantic painting style. he showed a preference for ships and water.

His seascapes are now in private collections around the world. Exhibitions in the Netherlands, America, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Sydney contributed to his fame and many special orders were made.

His last job was from VFD, which was responsible for equipping the Holland America Line cruise ships . This seven meter long painting shows sailing ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) from the 17th century off Amsterdam. Sterkenburg was unable to finish this painting because he died at the age of only 44.

In 2001 a foundation was set up to make his work better known.

style

After drawing a model on paper, he first sketched the picture in charcoal on canvas . Sterkenburg used a so-called "wet" technique; he didn't wait for the paint to dry completely. Finally, the lighting conditions were accentuated with a fine brush to achieve more depth.

Despite the realism of his pictures, Sterkenburg is not considered a fine painter. He had a preference for linen with a rather coarse texture. He was able to depict the rigging of his ships in a filigree manner on this comparatively rough surface. The sable hair brush used for this purpose enabled him to apply only a small amount of paint each time, resulting in short, streaked strokes. However, this technique cannot be seen in the end result because its lines appear to be continuous. This gives the viewer the impression that everything has been worked out in detail. In order to paint as lifelike as possible, Sterkenburg often used his extensive maritime book collection.

Exhibitions

  • 1978 Hardegaryp
  • 1980 Breukelen
  • 1985 San Francisco
  • 1986 AJ Koster Galery, Schoorl
  • 1988 AJ Koster Galery, Schoorl
  • 1992 Repulse Bay Hotel, Hong Kong
  • 1994 Regent Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
  • 1994 Hollandse Club, Singapore
  • 1994 Erasmus Huis, Djakarta
  • 1994 Hilton Hotel, Sydney
  • 2001 Hannemahuis, Harlingen
  • 2004 Westfries Museum, Hoorn
  • 2015 Zoutkamp Fishing Museum, Zoutkamp
  • 2015 Frisian Maritime Museum, Sneek

gallery

  • Harlingen in the fog. The seaman painter Peter Sterkenburg was born in Harlingen, in the Dutch province of Friesland. He often used the port city as a background for his paintings. Here he has shown ships around 1950 in Willemshafen. The painting dates from 1994.

  • Setting sun. A setting sun makes the waves of the surf transparent. The sense of space in this representation is reinforced by seagulls flying around. The painting dates from 1990

  • The Duchess Cecilie was a famous German four-masted barque and a freight sailing training ship , the fastest of its time. The namesake was the seafaring enthusiastic German Crown Princess Cecilie, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1886–1954) and wife of Wilhelm of Prussia . Cecilie

  • The Passat is a four-masted steel barque that was launched at Blohm & Voss in 1911 as one of the legendary Flying P-Liners of the F. Laeisz shipping company and is now in the port of Travemünde .

  • Schooner , rarely and out of date also schooner or schuner, describes a sailing ship with a certain rigging. A schooner is a sailing ship that has two or more masts, has sloping sails on all masts as the main sail and the foremost mast is lower than (one) the rear (s).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://rkd.nl/nl/explore/artists/75100
  2. ^ KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and The Peninsula Group
  3. ^ Henri van der Zee en Ton van der Werf (2001) Bound to the sea: Peter J. Sterkenburg, a maritime painter (1955-2000). Harlingen: Foundation Peter J. Sterkenburg. ISBN 9789090148977
  4. ↑ Ton van der Werf archive
  5. ↑ https://rkd.nl/nl/explore/artists/480131
  6. ^ KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and The Peninsula Group
  7. ↑ http://www.hannemahuis.nl/
  8. ↑ Westfries Museum - Welkom in de Gouden Eeuw! .
  9. ↑ https://whichmuseum.nl/nederland/zoutkamp/visserijmuseum-zoutkamp/tentoonstellingen/peter-j-sterkenburg
  10. ↑ Dubbeltentoonstelling Peter Sterkenburg - CA de Vries .
personal data
SURNAME Sterkenburg, Peter J.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch marine painter
DATE OF BIRTH December 15, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Harlingen
DATE OF DEATH April 3, 2000
Place of death Zurich (Friesland)