ABOUT THE ARTIST
I was born in Haarlem, Netherlands, and grew up in Rotterdam.
I started as a high school teacher in physical education in Amsterdam.
In the meantime, I was learning realistic painting, which resulted in a mix of Photorealistic and Dutch traditional realism called Megarealism around the ’90 ties. At first, I earned a living for a couple of years as a postcard designer, drawing and photographing hundreds of them and selling hundreds of thousands providing me the opportunity to make a switch from teaching to making art.
I was watching and learning from contemporary American photorealistic masters Ralph Goings and Charles Bell and Dutch masters Vermeer and Rembrandt as well among many others. Just trying and erroring to get the right light, composition and subjects. I am self-taught. There is no school for this; finding your own way is much more generating an individual style, which I longed for so strongly. I sold my works during a couple of years through many galleries and my own gallery as well, emerging an recognizable Megarealistic style ending up with top New York-based art dealers like OK Harris Works of Art and Louis K. Meisel Gallery.
I had several museum shows in the Netherlands and Europe, appearances in Tv/radio programs and shows, and was featured in hundreds of online and printed papers/magazine from all over the world. Paintings are included in many private collections all over the world. Now I am living and working in the green and peaceful city of Hilversum, next to Amsterdam. Traveling a lot, making and composing music, filming and photographing. I recently had two photo exhibitions showing the abstract part of daily street photography, called In the future I will concentrate and zoom in on food and searching for new subjects as well.
Contact at
gallery@tjalfsparnaay.nl, www.tjalfsparnaay.nl