Presentation
The Syntax of a Landscape
The theme of my latest work entitled "The Syntax of a Landscape" explores the reproduction of a reality that is not directly visible though still observable.
The horizontal and slightly linear construction yields the suggestion of a landscape, however one placed in a different context.
By means of reduction and simplfication, almost unknowingly a picture is realized in which light, space and time are united.
All of this is achieved in a subtle manner that demands the viewer's attention whilst at the same time retaining a great deal of control over the subject.
As a consequence the development of the work which took place over a period of time resulted in many new variations of a landscape without ever depicting one directly.
Paul Steenhauer
By art historian Hein van Haaren, Ma
Since 1965 Paul Steenhauer has created a body of work which shows a consistent idea of his conception of the art of painting. He aims at representing the world as a perfect looking but elusive cosmos on a very limited scale.
It consists of a composition which evokes associations with images of the classical landscape for there is always a division in the painting's construction: a horizon suggesting an earth and a sky. The landscape is no more than a preconceived idea what we consider it to be. There is no life under or above the horizon. There are sharply defined spaces of colour, sometimes displaying geometrical shapes. The position of the horizon, which can be high, low, central or curved, defines the effect of these areas and invokes unfathomable spaces, irrespective of the size of the painting...