Geert Meijer (1937)
Geert Meijer is a very special human being and artist. We visit him and his
wife in their hometown of Mechelen (near Maastricht). Geert lives in a
former school, from which he also works. Soon we find ourselves in a
philosophical discussion in which we exchange a lot of intimate information.
Geert Meijer was born in Groningen, but moved to Amsterdam at a young
age. He studied at the Rietveld Academy as well as the Jan van Eyck
Academy in Maastricht. Over the course of 14 years Geert was a teacher at
the Minerva Academy in Groningen.
Geert and his wife have had to cope with tragedy on two occasions.
The first was when they lost their two sons during a sailing trip on the
Wadden sea. And the second where they lost one of their daughters to a
severe illness. These days Geert has health problems of his own, but that
has not stopped him from painting.
Together with Geert we visited the attic of his home. Here amongst
thousands of (mostly small) paintings that were stored in cardboard
boxes, we found 'Paardenkeuring op de vismarkt in Groningen'
(Horse inspection on the Groningen fish market) painted on the 28th of
August 1979. This event, in celebration of Groningen's liberation in
1672 ('Bommenberend'), was only held once. We have a special bond with
this painting. It makes us recall such fond memories of our afternoon
in Mechelen. Combined with the nostalgic nuances of brown, this painting
has become very dear to us.
Geert has been crafting abstracts for many years now. The special look,
expressive power and creativity of Geert Meijer's paintings are strikingly
beautiful. Sometimes he even thinks of slogans such "If I were a painting
I would be truly happy".
Also view:
www.geertmeijer.nl
