“Animals interest me as painting objects, and I just love drawing them from life in the fields around me or painting them on a big scale in my studio. You can't find me happier than when painting a life size giant bull with huge brushes and broad strokes.
On a deeper level, the long standing and sometimes uncomfortable relationship between kept animals and humans keeps coming back in the work, whether I paint horses, donkeys, cows or apes. Their dependence upon us, and their trust, give us a huge responsibility. In most of my work this relationship between humans and animals plays a role, sometimes overt, sometimes more in the background.
Drawing and painting living creatures from life is challenging and exciting. Animals move around, and this means that speed is important. I like the thrill of trying to get it right in one go, but visible signs of searching for the right shapes are part of the work, too. The brushstroke is essential and I try to achieve the freshness of my life sketches in the larger studio paintings as well.”
Philine van der Vegte
Philine van der Vegte is a contemporary figurative artist, mainly painting in oil. She graduated from Wackers Academy Amsterdam in 2019 and received a grant from the Gerbrandy Fonds to study sightsize portraiture at Sarum Studio in Salisbury in 2020.
Her subjects are found close to her studio on a former dairy farm just north of Amsterdam, and include animals, portraits and landscapes, with a focus on the relationship between humans and animals.
Philine had a solo exhibition at Waterlandsmuseum De Speeltoren “Milk”, as well as group exhibitions in Museum Staal, Museum Nairac, Museum De Fundatie and the Papiermachermuseum in Austria.