Jaap Van Der Wijk

The Galerie Gabarin, where my art is exhibited, is situated at 1 Rue de l'Ancien Sénat, 06300 Nice, in the Old Town, near the flower market on Cours Saleya. The place is also known as the Hotspot Internet Cafe, and is owned by my good friend Omar Gabarin.

My biological father was a Dutch neurosurgeon with Indonesian, Spanish and Portuguese (Jewish) blood. His family lived in Indonesia from the 1730's until 1950. My mother was also Jewish; her family came from Amsterdam. My mother and father met when he studied medical science in Holland, and she worked as a hospital nurse.
I left home when I was 14 years old. I travelled through Europe, lived in Germany and Italy, and ended up in Paris, where I copied my first Modiglianis and sold them at the Boulevard Saint-Germain, for an equivalent of 70 euros. Selling one painting per day was enough for me to live a "luxurious" life.
In the early 1970s I studied political science at the Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow. After that I lived in South Africa and Northern Ireland for a couple of years.
Then I became a ship's chef on tall ships, large sailing vessels with about 75 passengers on board, sailing the Mediterranean Sea, the Carribean, etc.
From 1976 to 1984 I worked and lived in Nice. From 1986 till 1996 I lived and worked in Paris. I translated 76 books, serious non-fiction literature, like biographies, and wrote several books myself, like an encyclopedia of the sea and all its vessels, a dictionary of legal terms, a dictionary of football jargon, a dictionary of Wallstreet lingo, and hundreds of articles about dogs in general and the Labrador Retriever.

In 2005 I returned to Nice, just to visit, and in 2007 I loaded my little van, said goodbye to my friends in Amsterdam, to return to the south of France for ever.
I love to live here. I must admit that I rather wouldn't work, and just enjoy life, but the bills have to be paid, so that's why I picked up painting again. I don't need much money, so when I sell one or two paintings every month or so, I'm a happy man.

When I started painting, some 35 years ago, I used oil paint. However, I needed to sell my paintings the same day I made them, and it took oil paint weeks to dry thoroughly, while acrylic just needed a few hours.
My favorite style of painting is realism. I deeply admire Eric Fischl, Amadeo Modigliani, Fernando Botero, Pyke Koch, Carel Willink and Olga Wiese.

I still do traditional portraits, but paintings like "Business Partners" are becoming more and more popular. People like to see their faces in a certain fictional ambiance, with well known people. I like the sense of humor and the playfulness in it. It's fun to do.

I want my art to be recognizable. I like people, so I like to paint people. I like old mediterranean towns, so I like to paint those too. Painting enables me to be creative and recreative. It gives me (almost) all the satisfaction I need. Selling my work is hard, because my paintings are my babies, but I need to do it to make a living, and it enables me to buy new materials and be more creative. I'm proud to say that my paintings still are very affordable, and I plan to keep it that way.

I feel good when people tell me that they like my art. If I have a choice, I only sell my work to nice people.

I prefer to work in silence; no radio, no music, just the sounds from the courtyard, if there are any. I live in one of the most beautiful cities of the world: Nice, on the French Riviera, or the Côte d'Azur, as the French call it.
My kitchen is my workshop. There's a large table, half of it covered with tubes of paint and brushes, so that needs to be removed before I get people for dinner. Cooking is another creative activity of mine, usually Italian or Asian food.