The paintings of Robert Zandvliet (born 1970 in Terband, the Netherlands) straddle the divide between the abstract and the figurative. When starting out, Zandvliet would paint mundane objects, simplifying and greatly magnifying them. But since the late nineties, he has drawn inspiration from depictional painting and from nature. Although his interest in painting has remained unaltered, his manner of painting has evolved. Where his emphasis used to be on form and line, his landscapes now revolve around the fluency of brush movements and the rhythm of his touches, the transparency of the paint stroke and the compelling use of colour.

Within his landscapes and his art, it is the still-life, the portrait or a particular work of art that serves as his basis for his paintings, which are typically several metres high. What he is concerned with here is light, space and slowness, rather than the representative powers of his work. More than that, what interests Zandvliet is the power of paint on canvas to enrapture us.