Pierre van Soest - Beautiful abstract expressionist color pencil drawing - signed - Sold

• Pierre Gerardus Cornelis van Soest (Venlo, October 14, 1930 – Amsterdam, January 2, 2001) was a Dutch visual artist.

Pierre van Soest settled in Amsterdam in 1947. From 1947 to 1949 he attended the Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam and received the Royal Subsidy for Painting in 1953 and 1954.
From 1964 onwards he lived and worked alternately in Amsterdam and Helle (South Limburg). He was a member of the Amsterdam artists' group Groep Scorpio, together with Frans de Boo, Roger Chailloux, John Grosman, Guillaume Lo-A-Njoe, Karl Pelgrom, Jan Sierhuis, Aat Verhoog and Leo de Vries, among others.[1] In the years 1965-1966 and 1969-1971 he was a teacher at Ateliers '63 in Haarlem and from 1972 to 1978 at the Royal Academy of Art and Design in 's-Hertogenbosch. He was often active in the field of monumental arts and executed murals and concrete reliefs in public and private buildings in the Netherlands.
Van Soest died on January 2, 2001.
Painter of series
Because of his abstract expressionist style, Van Soest's early work has often been labelled as post-Cobra, a term the artist himself did not support. From the late sixties, Van Soest started painting in series. When he was captivated by a certain motif, this was the reason for a whole series of works. Examples include 'Umbrellas', 'Insects', 'Weekend Film' and 'Portrait of Helle'. Oil paint was joined by acrylic.
The subsequent series often had an art historical motif. The first series that resulted from this was 'With Jan van Eyck visiting the Arnolfini family' after the Arnolfini bridal couple by the painter Jan van Eyck, which hangs in the National Gallery of London. The series was followed by the series 'Dulle Griet', after the work of the same name by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, which can be viewed in the Mayer van den Bergh museum in Antwerp. This was followed by series about two works that can be viewed in the Prado in Madrid: The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch and the Three Graces by Rubens. But during these periods series also appeared that were not based on art historical motifs, such as 'Pierre van Soest so many times', 'Family portraits', 'Asperges' and 'Landscapes'.
To draw
The series of paintings were accompanied by numerous sketches and drawings. The sketches were partly tools to determine the use of colour and the size of the paintings, but should also be seen as autonomous works of art. There was also an interaction in this: paintings also provided new ideas for sketches. In the exhibitions of the various series, the drawings therefore took an important place alongside the paintings.
Architecture
Van Soest was very active in the field of monumental arts and executed murals and concrete reliefs in public and private buildings in the Netherlands. A special collaboration was that with architect Frank van Klingeren. In several buildings of his hand, the work of Van Soest plays an important role, including in De Meerpaal in Dronten, Jeugdgebouw Noord in Amsterdam, Scheepswerf Kraaijer in Zaandam and 't Karregat in Eindhoven.