This painting (acrylic on canvas) originally measured ; 50 x 50 centimetres,
It was mainly worked with palette knives.
The construction of this painting is special.... On a white ground, the whole canvas was first filled with (Hungarian) texts; then a layer of varnish was applied. Then two layers of paint, and after grattage another layer of varnish. Blue ink is added to the last varnish; this creates a blue, transparent layer (a kind of glazing).
The style is abstract and surrealistic/futuristic.
Technically, grattage (literally: scraping) is applied, among other things. To be precise: grattage with a palette knife in the still wet paint. In the process, the top layer is partly removed, revealing the underlying layer. This creates organic (or: biomorphic) forms but also sharp, taut lines. Fine transitions and nuances are created in the colour/colours.
Grattage was (re)invented and applied in the middle of the last century by Joan Miró, Antonio Saura and Max Ernst, among others. The technique is characteristic of movements such as Futurism, Cubism and Surrealism.
This painting is titled: ''Verdronken tekst''. The Hungarian texts in the bottom layer are barely visible.... The blue varnish evokes a surreal underwater world. The texts are overgrown by all kinds of (life) forms.... Impermanence in view.... Nature overcomes....
I am Auke de Jong (male, born 1953, married) and live in Hellevoetsluis (the Netherlands). I am also regularly in Hungary (in Mágocs), where we have a second home. As far as I know, I have been drawing and painting since my earliest childhood; later also.. Read more…