Biography: Learning from Nature & Architecture

Erik Renssen was born on June 5th, 1960, in Deventer, the Netherlands.  As he grew up, he developed a genuine interest in, and respect for, the beauty of people and objects.  What makes beauty?  In his partly unconscious search for answers he studied forms and shapes in nature and architecture and looked for harmony and beauty in among other things classical music.  He learnt carpentry from his father and grandfather by looking, looking and looking, as he says.

Art came later. Renssen started drawing and then painting and working with oils at the age of 24. Two years later, he moved to Amsterdam where he started working at a major architects office. He read and drew architectural plans, studied graphic design and international architecture. And he kept painting.

In 1994 he had his first exhibition in Amsterdam. The exhibition - mostly women’s portraits - nearly sold out. It also led to commissions and invitations for new exhibitions in the Netherlands and abroad.

Renssen’s does not desire to belong to a particular group or movement or to be limited to only certain subjects. He wants to give everything a try. A key element of his training has been the close study of the great masters. Besides paintings, he creates lithographs and statues from bronze and marble in very limited editions.

Since 2011 Renssen Art Gallery can be found in the heart of the Art District - Het Spiegelkwartier near The Rijksmuseum - of Amsterdam. The gallery – where works of Renssen can be seen side to side with pieces by Pablo Picasso – is run by his wife Suzka and open daily. Today the paintings, lithographs and sculptures by Renssen are part of private collections worldwide.