Sjoerd Bakker - Unieke "dubbele" Ets en aquatint "ochtend & avond" - E.A. exemplaar - gesigneerd - Sold

• Sjoerd Bakker (Amsterdam, 1943)

Sjoerd Bakker, trained at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, is highly fascinated by Southeast Asia and Japan. The influence of this is clearly recognizable in his graphic work and watercolors, among other things by the simplicity of form and color. The work exudes a mystical tranquility. The often uniformly colored background of his works with a number of carefully drawn ornaments in the foreground underline the Japanese influences once again. His works are usually elongated in shape and are reminiscent of classic Japanese prints. In the work of Sjoerd Bakker, contemporary objects appear in tranquil landscapes. The viewer thus becomes aware of reality. Other objects refer to the transience of existence. The eternal versus the temporal is often portrayed with humor. Bakker initially wanted to become a photographer, but a teacher at the Rietveld Academy told him: 'you will become an etcher'. Bakker received a scholarship and went to Japan for a while. There he had a studio at the foot of Mount Fuji. Bakker says about that time: `The Fuji calms my wish, maybe you can even call it happiness. I become one with the landscape. While the Westerner often feels like a lonely individual in the landscape, or at least that's what he imagines when he makes a painting. During my travels around Mount Fuji I (..) experienced very strongly what nature does to me. For me, the volcano is an eternity symbol for the temporality of man. `The philosophy of Zen Buddhism is an important starting point in life and work for Sjoerd. He lives alternately in Amsterdam and Thailand, where he has a wife and son.