"The winter garden" from 1960 has been painted in this tradition as well as a number of Still Lives.

With the water scenes on the other hand he left the "Bergen School" behind him. He brought colour and light in its somber expressionism.

Not because of the light as such, as was the case with the impressionists, but the light caught in the colour with which it is unified, is the actual subject of his work.

Thijs Sterk, the painter of light is also the painter of water. He knew both of these elements present in the landscape of the province of North Holland

He went through nature and nature went through him. He reduced it which to him were the most essential elements: light, water and space.

The painting "Moon lit night" (now in the collection of the "Noordhollands Art Center in Bergen") dates from these years. It is definitely one of his most imaginative works.

What we see is not just the firmament, nor just a cosmic landscape, but a water landscape in which the surrounding meadows seem to be reflected.

The painting is so close to abstraction that we are surprised to feel reality very clearly present.

Moon lit night z.j. olieverf 50 x 65
This is not a landscape in the traditional fashion but a harmoniously condensed orchestration of shape and color. It is the result of an art of painting that does not aim at reproduction but at evocation.