Erik de Jong (Steenwijk, 1958) knew early on that he wanted to become a painter. After he had graduated from the Minerva Academy in Groningen in 1984, he decided to move to Amsterdam. In 1987, the artist had his first solo exhibition in Mokum gallery. De Jong has a penchant for the human theme, in a landscape or interior. The people that he depicts, are mostly men lost in thought or muted in their movement. The artist often creates a distance between the observer and the depicted figures in his works. The moment which is depicted, is a moment of peace. Yet, there is a palpable tension: has there already been an action, or is it yet to come? Reality is always the starting point of De Jong’s paintings, but there’s a fine line between what has truly happened and what is suggested.