Pieter Defesche (1921–1998) - épreuve d’artiste

‘Heavenly and earthly love’ by Pieter Defesche (1921–1998) is a color screenprint on paper from 1991. The composition is dominated by a large, strongly simplified figure against a bright blue background. On the left appears a second, elongated figure form. Broad areas in yellow, lime green, orange-red and blue are intersected by loose contours in purple, blue-green and red.

Defesche combines powerful color fields with free, expressive linework. The shapes are deliberately simplified and move between figuration and abstraction. Open parts of the paper and the uneven, painterly boundary of the color fields reinforce the spontaneous character of the presentation.
Lower left in pencil marked ‘épreuve d’artiste ’91’ and lower right hand-signed. Dimensions of the work 48 × 64 cm. Including frame 67 × 82 × 2 cm.

Biografie kunstenaar
Pieter Defesche (Maastricht, 1921 – Ulestraten, 1998) was a Dutch painter, draftsman and graphic artist. He studied at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam, where Heinrich Campendonk was one of his teachers. In 1949 he received the Prix de Rome for painting. Defesche is regarded as part of the so-called Amsterdam Limburgers, artists from Limburg who worked in Amsterdam after the war. His oeuvre developed into an expressive visual language in which recognizable figures and landscape motifs were strongly simplified and frequently approached the border with abstraction. In addition to paintings and works on paper, he produced graphics and monumental art. In 1963 the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam presented a solo exhibition of his work. A substantial part of his artistic estate is housed at Museum van Bommel van Dam in Venlo.