Joost Verhagen (born 1975) has been drawing from a young age, inspired by an artistic family and the industrial harbor landscapes of Rotterdam. Although he initially attended art school, he initially chose a career in real estate. The urge to become an artist remained, however, and after a period working in the Australian Outback, he returned to Europe to study classical painting at the art academy in Antwerp, where he graduated in 2019.
Today, Verhagen is a full-time painter based in Eindhoven. His modern landscapes are sold internationally and have been exhibited in the Netherlands, Belgium, and India. He was named "Artist of the Month" by Online Gallery in 2021.
In his work, Verhagen starts from realistic images, often captured with his iPhone, which he transforms with simple means into alienating or abstract compositions. He consciously straddles the line between realism and abstraction, with a free use of color and a focus on desolate, industrial landscapes that, despite their austerity, leave room for dynamism and hope. His work is regularly compared to that of Edward Hopper and is in dialogue with contemporary landscape painters and photographers who know how to alienate the everyday.
![[copy] No Puedo Creerle a Nadie III by Hiroomi Ito](https://media-2.gallerease.com/images/4ae368a6-ec96-434e-9996-95a1be66f52d/350x350/copy-no-puedo-creerle-a-nadie-iii.jpg)
