Francien Krieg - A soft disappearance

To the future owner:

The painting is built on a red foundation, which at various spots continues to glimmer through the skin and the water. Especially around the body and in the blue areas, small warm traces are visible. The paint has been applied in thin, soft layers there. The light sky is painted more thickly and has a clearer surface, creating a contrast between the open, calm water and the more tangible space above it.
Hanging the work preferably in a place with soft light that falls somewhat from the side. Then both the red underlayer and the differences in paint thickness are most visible. In cool daylight the water gains emphasis; warmer light brings forward the skin and the pink and red tones. Avoid direct sunlight.
I began painting the boy with his eyes closed, as if he were asleep. During the painting I slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was initially grave and absent, but gradually softened and became more approachable—as if he were cautiously returning from his own world.
Perhaps the work is not only about disappearance, but also about slowly becoming present again. I hope that in his gaze there remains room to recognize a part of yourself, and that in his new place he retains some of his silence.

Francien Krieg is a Dutch figurative painter who investigates the human body as a carrier of time, vulnerability, beauty, and discomfort. Her work has been shown in recent years at 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 will participate in Five and Under at Arcadia Contemporary in New York, initiate 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 the second prize at Painting of the Year in 2023.

Krieg continually renews her visual language and working method. In addition to her painting, she early on belonged to artists who experimented 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: awkward, uncomfortable, sometimes resting or carrying one another. In this way she investigates masculinity before it has settled into strength, control, and pose.