Location: Netherlands
Biography
1969, born in Nijmegen. My work can be seen in many countries all over the world. I employ a variety of styles that all have one thing in common: the ever search for the light on phenomena and all the shadows and light planes they block in. My favorites in doing so are oil paint, dry pastel and graphite pencil. It is not the form or the theme that counts but the way planes of certain tonal quality vary and block in the lights. Colours are relatively unimportant and can take on whatever scheme. It is the tonal quality that is ever present in my work, creating the illusion of depth and mass on a flat 2d-plane. I combine figurative work with the search for abstraction because neither in extremo can provide the desired art statement the public expects from an artist. Besides all that, exaggeration and deviation is the standard and results in a typical use of a strong colour scheme and a hugh tonal bandwith, in order to create art that, when the canvas or paper would be torn into pieces, in essence still would be recognizable.
Oil Paintings, pastels and graphite / colored pencil drawings
“The Revelation of Bettie Page (2018)”
The Revelation of Bettie Page (2018)
In this painting I tried to work out some grand themes: sex and religion. There is nothing more to say about the ‘what’. About the ‘how’ I would like to mention Johannes Itten who spoke on balance in all sorts of contrasts so eloquently. I tried to balance the big themes and the details just like Jan van Eyck did in his famous painting ‘Madonna of Chancellor Rolin’. I always was fascinated by its mechanisms: the main theme of the Madonna worshipped by Rolin is the painting 1.0. For spectators who want to see more there is the painting 2.0: a landscape and a city full of activity but it does not interfere with the 1.0. This is what I wanted for my painting as well and I hope it it will serve as an hommage to the arts and crafts of the old masters in these days of artistic confusion all around us.
Oil on wood panel (85 x 120 x 0.9 cm)
Artist: Corné Akkers
Roundism - 12-02-17 (sold)
This painting is a culmination of all drawing efforts as to the same model pose. In total I made 4 paintings (this one is the roundism variety, after making pointillistic, surrealistic and a cubistic ones) and 15 graphite pencil drawings. It took me a year to get all the shapes and the colors right.
Oil on wood panel (85 x 120 x 0.9 cm)
Artist: Corné Akkers
“The widow of Aleppo - 18-05-17 (sold)”
The widow of Aleppo - 18-05-17 (sold)
I always wanted to do a piece after Rembrandt's Jeremiah lamenting Jerusalem's destruction and I could not find a more appropiate subject than the horrific destruction of Aleppo.
Pastel drawing on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch paper (50 x 65 x 0.1 cm)
Artist: Corné Akkers
“Vossendijk – 09-04-19 (sold)”
Vossendijk – 09-04-19 (sold)
The Vossendijk is the place where I was born, situated in Nijmegen, Gelderland, Netherlands. I was walking to my parents’ house who still live there, when the idea struck me to do a spring drawing again. Blossoms alreay came popping out while trees did not show their leafs yet. I decided to use a mild roundish styling while on the other hand keeping a rough edge. The drawing of my street thus became cubistic as well as impressionistic at the same time.
Graphite pencil drawing (Pentel 0.5 mm, 3B) on Canson Bristol paper (21 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm - A4 format)
Artist: Corné Akkers
“Het Oude Hof – 20-10-18 (sold)”
Het Oude Hof – 20-10-18 (sold)
Last week I went to visit Museum Kranenburgh at Bergen, Noord-Holland, Netherlands. I knew ‘Het Oude Hof’ was just around the corner, a place often portrayed by the artists of the ‘Bergense School’, a group of painters of, among others, Leo Gestel, Elsa Berg, Mommie Schwartz, Jaap Weijland, Jan Toorop and Jan Sluyters. After the stay at the museum I search for the Hof in the woods across the street and there it was. I decided to do the drawing rather impressionistically with rough hatched strokes, paying tribute to the expressionistic character of that artistic group of 100 years ago.
Graphite pencil drawing (Pentel 0.5 mm, 3B) on Canson Bristol paper (21 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm - A4 format)
Artist: Corné Akkers
“Roundism - 12-02-17 (sold)”
