Robbert Fortgens
“I photograph things I do not want to paint, and I paint things I cannot photograph.” — MAN RAY Robbert Fortgens (1960–2024) was a Dutch artist whose oeuvre was marked by constant evolution and experimentation. After completing his secondary education, he studied for several years at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Fortgens lived and worked in Antwerp and exhibited his work throughout Europe and the United States. His early work was characterised by a strong interest in photorealism and traditional fine painting techniques. Under the influence of the Israeli artist Meir Salomon, he developed a high level of technical precision. A significant turning point came in 1988 when he encountered the work of Willem de Kooning at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Inspired by De Kooning’s direct and intuitive approach to painting, Fortgens moved away from figurative representation and embraced powerful abstract expressionist compositions in which material, colour and gesture became central elements. Alongside painting, photography played an important role throughout much of his career. In a number of series, he brought photography and painting together, allowing the two disciplines to complement and strengthen one another. By combining photography, paint, epoxy and other materials, he created layered compositions in which the boundaries between the two media were deliberately blurred. In his later work, Fortgens increasingly focused on the autonomous possibilities of painting. His abstract works were built up through successive layers of paint, plaster and other materials, with each layer requiring time to dry before the next could be applied. This meticulous process resulted in paintings of rich texture, subtle depth and a strong physical presence. Colour, light and surface structure interact continuously, revealing new nuances and perspectives. Robbert Fortgens’ oeuvre reflects an artist who consistently explored new forms of visual expression and developed a distinctive visual language in which technical mastery, material richness and personal expression converge.
Artworks52
Discover more than 2,873 other available works from our collection.
View the entire collectionWant to stay up to date on the latest news and your favorite events?
Always know when new work from your favorite artist arrives?
