Jan Roeland, born in IJsselmuiden on February 12, 1935, and passing away in Amsterdam on November 7, 2016, was a renowned Dutch painter. His artistic journey was marked by a unique approach to everyday objects, transforming mundane items like envelopes, knives, hammers, and plants into compelling subjects of his art.
Roeland's paintings, often of modest living-room size, showcased these objects in a highly simplified form. He employed multiple layers of oil paint, applied with such intensity that it brought out a striking geometric and pictorial prominence. His art seamlessly blended figurative and abstract elements through this simplification and schematization, often infused with a subtle, understated humor.
Roeland was not just a painter but also an educator, imparting his knowledge at the Academy of Visual Arts in Enschede and the State Academy in Amsterdam, his home since 1959.
His evolving artistic expressions were frequently exhibited between 1984 and 1994 at Galerie Espace in Amsterdam, later at Galerie Nouvelles Images in The Hague, and Slewe Gallery in Amsterdam. His contributions to the art world were recognized with prestigious awards, including the Jeanne Oosting Prize in 1981 and the Sandberg Prize in 1998. His work was further celebrated through monographic publications in 1997 and 2007.
Roeland's creations have been a significant part of collections in several esteemed museums, including the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, the Rijksmuseum Twenthe in Enschede, the Dordrechts Museum in Dordrecht, and the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam in Schiedam.
One of his last participations in an exhibition was at the end of 2016, alongside artists Armando, Klaas Gubbels, and Cherry Duyns at the Galerie Christian Ouwens in Rotterdam, marking a fitting culmination to his illustrious career.
