Michiel Schrijver

Between Past and Present - 21st Century Contemporary Imaginary Landscapes

2025

A brief introduction to the artist Michiel Schrijver. “Whoever travels far can imagine a lot” With this sentence Michiel Schrijver begins an introduction to his work. It is a variant of an old saying that certainly applies to the work of the artist from Baarn. Painting is a form of travel for him. The paintings of the artist from Baarn are like voyages of discovery. The buildings and landscapes on Schrijver's canvases belong to a non-existent world that, in the words of the artist himself, 'runs parallel to ours'. It took Schrijver years to find his theme, but from the moment it presented itself, it never let go of him. When we look at a painting by Michiel Schrijver, a hidden new world unfolds that opens itself step by step, centimeter by centimeter. Zooming in on details, a story unfolds, and everything turns out to be happening. In an interview with 'Art of Living', the artist explains: “I don't put symbolism in my work, I'm not concerned with that. The viewer can discover it for himself. The only thing I see before me at the beginning of the process of a painting is an image. I then start sketching and if I like the drawing I put it on canvas in charcoal. Then comes the paint. Many drawings never make it to the canvas. When a work is almost completed, the artist takes plenty of time to distance himself in order to be able to assess the work in a fresher way. Some can be added, some can be taken away. Michiel Schrijver always works on several canvases at the same time and this last phase can easily take weeks. Viewers often link the artist's paintings to existing geographic locations. People can taste a Mediterranean atmosphere, or think they recognize a southern city on the water. Schrijver does not deny that by reading and traveling a lot, he takes influences from what he saw and read into his work. However, the translation of this image consists of pure imagination. Therefore, assessing whether an idea or drawing is 'good for making a painting' does not take place 'with the mind'. No matter how impressive his oeuvre, and however perfect his mastery of perspective or how good the drawing is, this decision is made with feeling. Michiel Schrijver worked over 4 years and made 26 new paintings for his solo exhibition we will open on October 30th 2022 at Galerie Bonnard.