Marie Reintjes (1990) won the Van Vlissingen Art Foundation Prize in 2022. In May of 2022, in search of a new wave of inspiration, she traveled to Iceland: the land of fire and ice, Vikings and deep-rooted superstitions.
There she encountered a landscape, whose colors and textures do not occur in the Netherlands, that sparked new ideas for her paintings. Marie Reintjes: ‘”I was able to take this amazing trip to Iceland. The impressions I gained there are something I can draw inspiration from for my work for a very long time.”
A book was published about her journey, sources of inspiration and work: Marie Reintjes in het land van vuur en ijs. This was the thirteenth edition in the Inspiration series, written by Isabel Heijne and published by Waanders. Her work was displayed at Museum Singer Laren between 29 November 2022 and 8 January 2023.
Marie Reintjes lives and works in Arnhem. Throughout her childhood, she has called various places in the Netherlands “home,” but has always had a special place in her heart for the Achterhoek. In pursuit of an art education she moved to Utrecht, where she grew into an artist at the Utrecht School of the Arts. The subsequent move to Arnhem marked her return to Gelderland and felt like a true homecoming. Perhaps her connection with the Achterhoek is the reason for the frequently recurring motif of the landscape in her work.
A large collection of images underlies Marie Reintjes’ work. This visual database is composed of photographs she takes while walking, attending a concert or viewing the Dutch landscape from an airplane—images from everyday life. It also includes photographs from her parents’ photo albums and images of family and friends.
The snapshot style of photography, characteristic of this time, serves as a starting point for her works. Reintjes picks out the gems from the great plethora of “disposable” images, often shot without precision. These everyday moments she then puts on a pedestal through her painting of them.
The images Marie Reintjes uses are personal, sometimes even emotional, but the approach she takes while painting is methodical. She wants to paint with the same speed at which the photograph was taken. Using quick movements to set down her brush strokes, her method reflects the value she places on getting “to the point” and reaching the essence of the image. She leaves out superfluous details, sometimes resulting in a depiction that leans towards the abstract.
In May 2022, Marie Reintjes traveled to Iceland: the “land of fire and ice,” Vikings and deep-rooted superstitions. A fascination with the vastness of nature, and the urge to discover, see and learn new things served as the main motivating factors for Reintjes’ choice of Iceland. The landscape, full of colors and textures not found in the Netherlands, reinvigorated her passion for her paintings. “It keeps coming and I’m really inspired by the landscape there,” reintjes enthuses. “You will find the most wonderful color combinations and the buildings give beautiful color accents in nature.”
Marie’s fascinations for the everyday and the overwhelming power of nature came together on the trip. The Dutch skies, roads and traffic lights in her paintings are replaced by Icelandic volcanoes and geysers, but the love for painting remains just as strong.
Marie takes the viewer on a journey through Iceland, and her search for the perfect representation on canvas of the insights she acquired there. The result is an imploration to the viewer to look at the Icelandic landscape, and the mundane world around each and every one of us, just a little differently.
Marie Reintjes lives and works in Arnhem. Throughout her childhood, she has called various places in the Netherlands “home,” but has always had a special place in her heart for the Achterhoek. In pursuit of an art education she moved to Utrecht, where she grew into an artist at the Utrecht School of the Arts. The subsequent move to Arnhem marked her return to Gelderland and felt like a true homecoming. Perhaps her connection with the Achterhoek is the reason for the frequently recurring motif of the landscape in her work.
A large collection of images underlies Marie Reintjes’ work. This visual database is composed of photographs she takes while walking, attending a concert or viewing the Dutch landscape from an airplane—images from everyday life. It also includes photographs from her parents’ photo albums and images of family and friends.
The snapshot style of photography, characteristic of this time, serves as a starting point for her works. Reintjes picks out the gems from the great plethora of “disposable” images, often shot without precision. These everyday moments she then puts on a pedestal through her painting of them.
The images Marie Reintjes uses are personal, sometimes even emotional, but the approach she takes while painting is methodical. She wants to paint with the same speed at which the photograph was taken. Using quick movements to set down her brush strokes, her method reflects the value she places on getting “to the point” and reaching the essence of the image. She leaves out superfluous details, sometimes resulting in a depiction that leans towards the abstract.
In May 2022, Marie Reintjes traveled to Iceland: the “land of fire and ice,” Vikings and deep-rooted superstitions. A fascination with the vastness of nature, and the urge to discover, see and learn new things served as the main motivating factors for Reintjes’ choice of Iceland. The landscape, full of colors and textures not found in the Netherlands, reinvigorated her passion for her paintings. “It keeps coming and I’m really inspired by the landscape there,” reintjes enthuses. “You will find the most wonderful color combinations and the buildings give beautiful color accents in nature.”
Marie’s fascinations for the everyday and the overwhelming power of nature came together on the trip. The Dutch skies, roads and traffic lights in her paintings are replaced by Icelandic volcanoes and geysers, but the love for painting remains just as strong.
Marie takes the viewer on a journey through Iceland, and her search for the perfect representation on canvas of the insights she acquired there. The result is an imploration to the viewer to look at the Icelandic landscape, and the mundane world around each and every one of us, just a little differently.
