The opinions of two art critics on Nienke van Eck’s paintings
Leo Duppen, in ‘Kunstbeeld’: ‘the work of Nienke van Eck has been described as Poetic Realism owing to the tranquil images she evokes in her paintings, yet I think she achieves a naturalistic rather than a realistic approach. Her work could be described as naturalistic because the nature and landscapes she has witnessed on her many trips around the world, form an important theme in her paintings. The pictures she gathered during those travels are worked on in her studio, not in a realistic way, but by following her own individual style. The reproduction of a photographic image, forms the basis of a radical reduction, whereby every non-essential detail together with any traces of human presence are deleted from the painting. The empty sand plains and houses without windows have a surrealistic appearance. The emptiness that characterizes her paintings is not restful, on the contrary, there is a feeling that the cleanness could be disrupted at any moment. The fact that Nienke van Eck refrains from painting any living creature, does not mean that they might not turn up at any moment from behind the hills, and by appearing thus would disrupt the silence of the landscape. In her art every non-essential element is omitted, that is her great strength’.
Antonie den Ridder about her exhibition ‘The Lost Universe’ in The Courthouse of Rotterdam: Van Eck paints houses, telegraph poles, rail tracks and seascapes. The fact that humans do not participate in her paintings, has led critics to describe the work as poetic realism or naturalism. These views, however, do not fit the vision van Eck clearly shows in her work. The title ‘The Lost Universe’ would suggest a painful farewell, but actually this is not the case. She chose the absence of human beings as a formal starting point. In her balanced compositions there is no place for human figures, their presence would ruin the horizon. She often works with extremely low horizons and remarkable perspectives and has developed a view of her subjects similar to that of a sculptor. Van Eck shows us the beauty of the world after the Big Cleaning’.