Space, light and atmosphere. These are the essential data in Gerard Koster's lyrical-realistic landscape paintings.

In his work feature dikes and polders, the far distances of the shoals,

the beaches of the barrier islands in the North of the Netherlands.

Regardless of the chosen subject, each of his paintings is an attempt to evoke the illusion of calm and infinite space.

The works are often quite large, reinforcing the suggestion of space, turning the paintings into open windows that invite us to venture outside.



Art critic Wim van der Beek in a contemplation of Gerard Koster’s work:

"Landscapes in which the viewer can get lost and disappear. Landscapes that seek out space and offer a chance to enter a world without limits. Landscapes that stir the imagination and yet are based on concrete observations. Landscapes in which imagination and reality overlap and are revealed to be two sides of the same coin. Landscapes that invite introspection, self-examination, even meditation. These are the landscapes Gerard Koster paints. In his (very nearly horizonless) vistas the distinction between fiction and fact vanishes. Towering skies, wide-open plains and infinite distances are portrayed by the painter and water-colourist in pictures to which the word ‘grandiose’ does not do justice. Gerard Koster’s landscapes are particularly unusual because the infinity they portray applies to the imagination as well as to the landscape. In a certain sense, Koster paints inner landscapes that underscore a longing for freedom and spur the viewer to clear his thoughts and let them soar."