‘It’s exciting to paint thing that most people don’t see as beautiful or interesting.’
Frans Stuurman (Rotterdam, 1952) studied in his hometown at the Academy of Visual Arts from 1970 to 1975. He paints cityscapes, mainly trams, trains and station. His fascination for trams comes from his hometown, from his house he can see a tramremise. Because of this he created a fascination for trams and he uses this in his artworks.
Frans Stuurman also has a preference for his city Rotterdam. He mostly makes paintings close to reality: usually a street or a spot that speaks to him. He will make pictures and sketches of this and uses it to create his painting in his atelier. Stuurman works very hard on his paintings, because one painting takes him a lot of time he can only create one or two paintings a year. Stuurman rarely paints figures. The empty streets and the lighting decide the atmosphere of the painting. Stories and thoughts are depicted on the canvas by the artist.