Additional Images

Provenance:

Private Collection, Ontario

Note:

Robert Vanderhorst (b.1951) is a surrealist. Emigrating from Holland to Canada in 1951, his work has been influenced by a wide variety of sources, from Dalí and Magritte, to Escher and Vermeer. With an attention to fine detail and visual cohesion, his highly introspective works carry an undercurrent of quiet unrest and implicit tension.

An Open Doorway in Greece is one of his more subtle paintings, discarding the bizarre for the familiar. On first glance, the painting could be a postcard: an open door leads outside to a wide, sunny Mediterranean seascape. However, closer reflection reveals an uncertain scene. The bold red flowers outside are somehow also growing inside the building, collapsing the distinction between exterior and interior. The open door is highly polished, reflecting the outside terrace and appearing almost translucent - further complicating the transition outdoors - while appearing to be at odds with the crumbling masonry of the building. In the words of his friend George Romero, Vanderhorst’s paintings are “telling stories of what might be… if only he can prompt the viewer to see things differently.”