Bert van der Meer - Cola Crush

Bert van der Meer – Cola Crush
Oil on panel

A splendid new work by Bert van der Meer, known for his refined still lifes with attention to detail and mood.

In this painting, an apparently ordinary object takes center stage: a simple can of cola, elevated by the artist into a contemporary icon. The metallic surface shows subtle dents, reflections, and color shifts that testify to use, time, and impermanence.

Van der Meer deftly captures this modern simplicity in thin layers of oil paint, where light, gloss, and shadow come together in a near-poetic union. The reflective skin of the can — with its distinctive red — takes on an almost monumental presence, while the refined execution continues to reference the tradition of the classical still life.

Information about the artist:
Bert van der Meer was born in 1980 in Surhuisterveen (Friesland). From a young age he began drawing and developed a strong interest in form, light, and composition. Since 2003 he has worked as a painter, with a preference for still lifes and portraits in oil.

Van der Meer is largely self-taught. Through a lot of practice and self-directed research, he has developed his own recognizable style in which craftsmanship and personal imagination come together.

In his work he focuses mainly on still lifes with objects that bear the marks of time, such as old glass bottles, archaeological finds, and worn everyday items. He owns a large collection of objects from Roman glass to medieval pottery, which often serve as inspiration and recur in his paintings. These objects symbolize the passage of time and give his work a poetic and sometimes nostalgic atmosphere.

His paintings are distinguished by traditional compositions, soft color tones, and careful attention to light and shadow. In this way his style aligns with 20th-century realist painters. Yet he manages to add a contemporary sensitivity to his classical method of working.

In addition to still lifes, he also paints portraits and experiments with landscapes and studies in color and light.