Mary Grooteman

"self portrait"80 x 100 cm., oil/linen

Born :
1960 in Wervershoof, The Netherlands

Education :
1993: Ruudt Wackers Art Academy, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Exhibitions :
1993 - 1996 (a choice of group and solo exhibitions) :
Herenhuis gallery, Enkhuizen, The Netherlands

Hoogenbosch gallery, Gorrendijk, The Netherlands
Vieleers gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Summer Painting Festival, Katwijk, The Netherlands
Propos Portrait # III, Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Propos Portrait # IV, Autotron Rosmalen, The Netherlands
A Propos Portrait # V, KunstHal Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Commissions :
Worked for the Dutch artist Rob Scholte at the "Huis ten Bosch Stad", Nagasaki, Japan.

Other activities :
Mary does portrait commissions ; 1996 is fully booked.

MESSAGE

Ever since I remember I have been fascinated by figurative paintings.
The first paintings I was confronted with were the holy images in our church.
Every Sunday I would study them throughout the service.
The figures were so imposing and so real.
The rendering of the flesh and material were truer than life.
The fact that man had created them, intrigued me immensely.
This, combined with my early love for drawing made me decide to go to Amsterdam to study art.
Still today there is nothing that challenges me more than the painting of human beings.

Did you know that Mary is daughter of a tulip-grower?
During the summer holidays, as a child,
she always helped her father cutting the tulips in a dark shed.
Mary was not aware of the existing of summer holiday,
let alone the real meaning of "holiday"....