We are pleased to present recent watercolors by the painter, Henk Pander. Classically trained in his native Netherlands, he is a consummate draftsman using plein air and studio still life as the basis for his physical and commanding work. Learning watercolors as a child from his father, a prominent illustrator, Henk also learned from the finest Dutch teachers who saw watercolor as a serious tradition. Creating large-scale watercolors, typically 40" x 60," is uniquely Henk, a tradition that has become a common thread throughout his career. The medium lends well to traveling and allows for spontaneity, but the painting on location is intense and physical work. It entails walking and carrying equipment for long distances and dealing with the elements. Henk does not pencil out an under-drawing initially, but layers watercolor directly, building up the color and contrast. In comparison to his more socially charged oil paintings, the watercolors are frequently reflections on the environments of Eastern Oregon, parts of Europe or of still life in his studio. This exhibition will include a series of watercolors from his recent travels around the Oregon landscape.
Growing up in Amsterdam, Henk Pander received his technical training at the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten where he was influenced by the historical aspects of European painting and the Dutch Masters. In the early 1960s, he moved to Portland. He worked extensively in theatre set design beginning with the Storefront Theatre in the 1970s-80s and numerous projects for the Portland Center for Performing Arts, OR. His work is well collected privately and publicly in the Northwest and in Europe including; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Portland Art Museum, OR; Frye Art Museum, Seattle; City of Amsterdam, Netherlands; City of Portland, OR; Oregon Historical Society, Portland; National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC; and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon. Pander received the Oregon Governor’s Arts Award in 2005 and a Visual Arts Fellowship from the Regional Arts & Culture Council, Portland in 2006. He was honored with a retrospective, Spectacular Requiem at The Frye Museum in Seattle, 2004-05. In 2007 the Museum Henriette Polak in Zutphen, Holland presented Henk Pander: American Landscape, Amerikaanse Landschappen.