Evert Pietersartist • painter • watercolourist • draughtsmanAmsterdam 1856-1932 Laren (N.H.)

After a long stay in Antwerp, where he had studied at the academy and then with the landscape painter Theodore Verstraete, Evert Pieters settled in Blaricum in 1897 at the age of 41. The scenic nature of Het Gooi, the small farms and the simple farm population inspired him to paint farm houses and intimate farm yards with mothers and children playing. Painters such as Albert Neuhuys and Hendrik Kever had already preceded him in this genre. Pieters, however, had a strong sense of light and color from the south. Like no other, he was able to paint the reflection of the sunlight on blond cobblestones, the speckled shade of a blossom tree and the brightly colored flowers in the grass in his bold, loose touch. He had great success with his sunny paintings, especially among Americans who visited our country. In order to meet the high demand, he had set up a special corner in his studio as a farmer's interior and had permanent models pose in the garden. Pieters also painted portraits and beach scenes, for which he regularly went to Katwijk and Egmond.

After 1920 he painted a number of figure paintings and nudes outside, which made an impression because they differed greatly in tone from the exuberant color that was used to him. For example, R.W.P. de Vries jr in 1926: 'From these paintings, which he regrets if they are sold anyway (...) there is a completely different tone and mood, in which he is both a virtuoso colorist and mood painter. He then completely broke away from a certain tradition, but also from a certain range of colors on the palette, and now, as at once, has found a completely different tone.'