About The Artist

www.markstolk.com Born in the Netherlands in Delft, the city of Vermeer, in 1964, I have been heavily influenced, from an early age onwards, by the old Dutch masters. After five years of study at the Royal Academy of Arts in Rotterdam (painting and design) and two additional years at the Art Academy of Utrecht, where I got my degree in art history, I turned from the abstract to the more figurative in painting. My style can perhaps be called romantic and the theme in my work has always been the human drama and human psychology. Many of my paintings have a narrative nature and use symbology and talk about such things as the beauty and spiritual potential of each human but also about such things as the misuse of beauty, sex and power, quilt, loneliness and more. Lately I have turned more and more to portrait painting, in which I try to capture the unique essence and qualities of each person portrayled. Apart from working as an independent artist, with many international exhibitions (Holland, Italy, Sweden and Denmark), I also teach art classes in classical painting techniques. Further on I work as an international colour expert and trainer on the influence and meaning of colour. I hope you will enjoy my work! With friendly greetings, Marcus stolk www.markstolk.com