Hanneke Naterop

Hanneke Naterop is a figurative painter who grew up in Oss in the Netherlands. She graduated in 1990 from the Academy for Visual Arts in Tilburg. She works as a professional visual artist in Alphen aan den Rijn.

Naterop talks about her own work:

“In my portrait paintings i’m looking for similarities which I perceive- that’s not only concerning the outside. When I’m painting I start seeing the real person coming forward. I test that with the image i’m creating. I use the background of the painting to enhance the portrait even more”.

Hanneke Naterop mainly paints people, while sporadically a landscape or animals are the main subject of her work. She is constantly working on the question how to use paint or crayon to portray the complexity of her observations. How to honestly display the tones, the movements, the atmosphere, the skin and especially the light. 

The work by Naterop brings the viewer to an intimate space where people come and dissolve in their surroundings. Her dreamlike work leaves enough room for questions worth pondering. Who are these people? Why is this lady looking like that? Then she looks for perfect balance and harmony, but also leave room for miracles that happen on the way. A hint of mystery will be always present in her work. As life is a mystery in itself she is inspired to create her own vision of the world around her. She loves people with their inner and outer beauty, so painting people is a big theme for her. She captures the tones, movement, space, skin tone, colour and especially light that changes all the time.

Her characters suggest a certain longing only expressed by a subtle accent in their posture. Sometimes she leaves objects deliberately hidden. By keeping the background not very clear the observer starts looking even better at the painting. Wondering what the artists precisely want us to see.