Willie Berkers - Stilleven - Sold

Willie Berkers (1950-2020), a self-taught artist, started by copying romantic painters such as Schelfhout and Koekoek. Later he copied the Hague School, including the Maris brothers. He then painted Van Gogh for a while. Gradually he became familiar with mixing, colours, easel, palette and brush and began to develop his own style. He then focused on landscapes and still lifes and developed into a special and appreciated exponent of Dutch neorealism after 1950. Berkers composes still lifes in which objects from the immediate living environment are placed one behind the other and lit from a single light source. The play of light and shadow achieved in this way is accurately and realistically reproduced by him, resulting in a subdued composition. The same mastery of materials is found in his work as a landscape painter. Berkers finds his inspiration in the landscapes of De Peel in Brabant and is inspired by painters such as Gerard Dou and Johannes Vermeer.