The Czech Republic (Age Magazine): Unique Abstraction—A Dutch Painter Inspired by Prague

2021-10 If you want to experience pure joy expressed through art, to see the precision of clean lines that will take you on a journey of liberating color from form and the image from a specific object, then Julien van Middendorp is the artist whose paintings you won’t want to be without. Julien van Middendorp is a Dutch abstract painter who focuses on large-format oil paintings in which the elements of color intertwine to form relationships and create ideas, visions, and messages. Colors are, as is well known, different wavelengths of light—that is, “mere” degrees of quantity—but in van Middendorp’s paintings they take on an essential character: color, not line, is the primary constitutive element of the (ever-changing) structure of the world. This is a discovery made even before the beginning of the 20th century by Cézanne, van Gogh, Monet, and others, which was then carefully explored by artists of the last century and continues to be explored by others to this day. Julien van Middendorp’s work is based on a perfectly thought-out composition and the use of primary colors. Among other things, this involves the active engagement of the viewer’s eye, within which colors are processed into a final perception, emotion (and perhaps even behavior). To paraphrase Shakespeare, one could say that “the painter’s image is in the eye of the beholder.” ” What is remarkable is that Julien is a painter of pure abstraction, from which, upon closer examination, a landscape, music, or harmony materializes.

A huge benefit, then, is the accessibility of Julien’s work to those viewers who have not yet taken the decisive step—or rather, the leap—across the chasm between the concrete and the abstract. Julien draws inspiration—with great enthusiasm and skill—from urban life, its movement, flux, and transformations. The urban universe lends his paintings a distinctive organic dynamism. At the same time, it also conveys a deeper meaning, joy, and insight. Julien works with primary colors, which he uses as constitutive elements of his artistic architecture. Julien van Middendorp experimented with relatively large-format drawings and watercolors as early as childhood. Later, he attended art seminars at the design school in Utrecht. He has been living and working in Prague for a few years now. The local cultural environment is a fresh source of inspiration for him.

“My entire body of work is a reflection of my overactive imagination,” says Julien van Middendorp, describing his art.

Description of Artistic Work

Julien’s abstract oil paintings feature dynamic compositions in primary colors, painted on canvas in multiple layers with minimal use of synthetic materials. Key themes and messages are hidden in the titles of his paintings. His works have been admired by audiences in Milan, London, Boston, and Palm Springs. Among his recent achievements is the “Best Contemporary Artists of Today” award. This award recognizes his exceptional artistic style and masterful technical execution.

Julien van Middendorp, Lines, Oil painting, 90×100 cm Julien van Middendorp, The Fragile Art of Existence, Oil painting, 90×100 cm Julien van Middendorp: Alien Blueprint, Oil painting, 185×90 cm