There’s something magical about standing in front of a painting you’ve only ever seen in books. That moment happened to me in the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague, where I finally saw Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer—one of the most iconic works by a Dutch painter and a masterpiece of the Golden Age of Dutch painting.
A girl that probably did not exist in real life. A canvas, old and darkened through the years (did you know the background of the original painting was actually green?) Living in the Netherlands, one can't help but be inspired by the old Dutch masters. Luckily many paintings are still in reach and ready to be admired in our museums. Like I did.
I returned to my studio in Tilburg, the Netherlands, still carrying that moment with me. And slowly, with every brushstroke of acrylic paint, I created my own interpretation—not a copy, but a response. My painting I say interpretation, a girl that does not exist. Only on this painting she comes to life.
Like many of my works, this piece was influenced not just by Vermeer, but by other Old Dutch Masters I admire—Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Judith Leyster—painters who knew how to tell human stories through light and detail. Their legacy, combined with modern influences shape everything I create.