Peter Kunz

It must have been somewhere in 1988 that I rushed to the center of Delft. The previous evening I had enjoyed a bottle of wine with friends and the label appealed to me so much that I spontaneously decided to buy some oil paint to copy it. It was a picture of a small village situated on a mountain slope.

The result was extremely poor. Not surprising since I had never touched a brush before ... This 'painting' is still in my possession. I cherish it as the starting point of a development process of many years.

During this process I have learned a lot about working with oil paint, techniques to be used, etc. All of this by trial and error, but most of all by looking very closely and by practicing a lot. In this way I have developed an enormous passion for painting.

Although I have made several paintings of landscapes and still lifes, the central theme in my work is always people. Inspiration can come from different sources. An example is the canvas 'Eating out with father at the age of 16'. This was in response to a dinner with the 16-year-old in question during which his primary attention was focused on the cell phone. At such a moment it can happen that an image unfolds between my ears which I then passionately capture on canvas.

Another great source of inspiration I find in the Old Dutch Masters, in my case especially Gerard van Honthorst (1592 - 1656). The way in which he managed to capture everyday scenes, touches me as it were. By now I have produced a relatively large number of paintings based on Gerard's work. Not with the aim of creating an exact copy, but rather to reproduce the atmosphere in my own style.

Lately I have been experimenting a lot with compositions of my own. My ample imagination often serves as inspiration. An example are the twin canvases 'Saskia' and 'Self-Portrait', both from 2020.

An important learning point of the past period is that not everything has to be perfect. After all, I am a painter and not a photographer. This is no excuse for a lesser mastery of technique (compared to the aforementioned Gerard van Honthorst), our brain has the ability to fill in the pictures itself, which can create an attractive whole.

When I now, more than thirty years later, look back on my development as a painter, I am satisfied. It is my conviction that the learning process will never end and that I will continue to arrive at new insights. My satisfaction also stems from the fact that I have already been able to make a large number of people happy with my paintings. This is also my ultimate motivation, to create paintings that others can enjoy.

If you would like to see my work, feel welcome in Schiedam.

A reaction in my guestbook will be highly appreciated.

With kind regards,

Peter Kunz