Francien Krieg - A soft disappearance

To the future owner:

The painting is built up from a red base, which continues to shimmer through the skin and the water in several places. Especially around the body and in the blue areas there are small warm traces visible. The paint has been applied in thin, soft layers there. The light sky is painted thicker and has a clearer surface, creating a contrast between the open, calm water and the more tangible space above it.
Please hang the work preferably in a spot with soft light that falls somewhat from the side. Then both the red underlying layer and the variations in paint thickness will be most visible. In cool daylight the water will be emphasized; warmer light brings forward the skin and the pink and red tones. Avoid direct sunlight.
I started painting the boy with his eyes closed, as if he were sleeping. During the painting I slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was at first serious and absent, but gradually softened and became more approachable—as if he was cautiously returning from his own world.
Perhaps the work is not only about disappearance, but also about slowly becoming present again. I hope there remains room in his gaze to recognize something of yourself, and that he preserves some of his quiet at his new place.

Francien Krieg is a Dutch figurative painter who investigates the human body as a bearer of time, vulnerability, beauty, and discomfort. Her work has in recent years been shown at, among others, Galerie Mokum in Amsterdam, various galleries in New York and elsewhere in the United States, and Beinart Gallery in Australia. Her paintings are included in major private and international art collections.

In 2026 she participates in Five and Under at Arcadia Contemporary in New York, begins a collaboration with Galerie François-Xavier Bertrand in Bordeaux, and is nominated for Artist of the Year 2027. Earlier highlights include her book Precious Bodies from 2018, nominations for Figurativas in 2017 and 2021, winning the BoldBrush Painting Competition in 2020, and second prize at Painting of the Year in 2023.

Krieg continually renews her visual language and method. In addition to her painting, she was among the artists who experimented early with NFTs and later with AI as part of the artistic process. The hand-painted image and human presence remain the starting point.

In her recent paintings of boys, Francien Krieg focuses on the vulnerable moment between childhood and adulthood. The bodies are still searching: ungainly, awkward, sometimes resting or carrying each other. With this she explores masculinity before it has settled into strength, control, and pose."