Peter Durieux

Peter Durieux (1951) paints landscapes and oases of tranquility where one can stay silent and muse about the beauty of nature. Green woods, a meadow with a fence or a stone wall are carefully depicted in detail. Sunlight strokes evenly over the scene, there is no wind, no unrest, everything is hushed. Peter Durieux derives his ideas to his travels to France, where he walks and makes sketches of places that fascinate him. His outdoor drawings are transformed to paintings in his studio. However, he never paints exactly after what he sees. Peter Durieux changes the composition of the image such that fantasy and reality merge into one another. Disturbing elements may be omitted and objects may be moved or added. It is the composition, the field division, the play of light and dark and the use of color that ultimately counts, not the realism of the scene.

Peter Durieux is a fine painter and realist whose landscapes evoke a longing for a lost harmony with nature. People do not appear in the paintings of Peter Durieux. We do see the presence of the human hand in structures, fences and houses. These are elements that join harmoniously with nature, as if the human presence only adds value and does not affect the environment.

Peter Durieux studied at the Academy Minerva Groningen, The Netherlands.