Still Lifes

Welcome to this room, where the young Thijs Sterk explores the intimacy of the studio. Here, he exchanges the vastness of the polder for the small-scale: ripe pears on crumpled paper, a bowl filled with fruit, and the whimsical buds of an artichoke. In these works, you will recognize Sterk's roots in the Bergense School. With a warm, impasto palette of ochre, olive green, and deep brown, he gives the everyday a tangible weight. The powerful, dark contours reveal his later work in glass and concrete. It is the light skimming over the robust forms and draped fabrics that brings shadow and matter to life. Allow yourself to be carried away by this controlled, earthly power.