Surreal swimming pool with palms and fresh water by Roger VDB

This colourful painting depicts a quiet, almost dreamlike pool surrounded by lush banana plants and palms. The water is rendered in bright turquoise and deep blue, with subtle light reflections that suggest the surface is gently moving. The surrounding wall in a warm salmon colour forms a powerful chromatic counterpoint and frames the scene like an architectural frame, bringing nature and construction into a carefully balanced relationship.

The painting style is a layered fusion of influences. The fresh colours, the play with perspective and the iconic tranquillity of the pool immediately evoke associations with the work of David Hockney, especially his famous pool paintings from the 1960s and 1970s. At the same time, the image possesses a Magritte-like alienation: the space looks recognisable, but the absence of people and the almost too-perfect arrangement give the scene a surrealistic tension. The clear spatial arrangement and attention to transitional zones between inside and outside recall Pieter de Hooch, who used architecture to capture silence and contemplation.

The painting is executed in oil paint, visible in the layered brushstrokes of the water and leafy greenery. The background consists of clean, almost linear planes that define wall, sky and floor. These geometric lines structure the image and deliberately contrast with the organic shapes of the plants. Similar well-known works include Hockney's "A Bigger Splash", Magritte's "Le domaine d'Arnheim" and Pieter de Hooch's hushed courtyard compositions. Together, these references reinforce the sense of timeless tranquillity, modern aesthetics and subtle surrealism.