Gently touch Gallery, Publicity, ect. to find Paintings, Books, Reviews and more. Click!

(Hans) Versteeg

Hansa’s career was centered around graphic design, where he gained vast experience in simple yet efficient visual communication. Unexpectedly, for himself and others, Hansa made a change to oil painting as an art form in his seventies. Over a short period of time he developed into a painter with a major talent for painting fabric and light, similar to the masters of the 17th century such as Gerard ter Borch. For him, every next work of art is a challenge to gain in quality, complexity and effectiveness of craftsmanship and communication.

A discreet serenity is a prerequisite for a successful painting – according to Hansa. The image needs to be intimate and aim at a balance between the emotional and the rational. His own artistic voice is grafted in centuries of European artistic and spiritual tradition.

He puts his talent, his artisanship, his convictions but most of all his heart into his work. This attitude, the intimacy and truthfulness of it, often opens the channel for a heart to heart flow of communication with the viewer.

Hansa calls attention to problems in a realistic manner. Yet his kind of realism differs from the detachment of superrealism. He stays involved with his subject matter. His works highlight ethical, often political questions about right or wrong in society, the challenges of our times like aggression, refugees, our environment or loneliness. His compassion in action happens through painting. Compassionism. His antidote to fear and hatred in this world is love and attention conveyed through beauty. He inspires to question and interpret life anew.

Anikó Tóth, cultural historian and art curator