A forced stay in his youth of many years in a hospital bed gives Paul Christiaan Bos a consciousness of the forms of reality around him, as well as an intense eagerness to understand that reality and to, as it were, hand that reality over to his fellow man as a harmonic, but even more as a beloved, whole. From this stems his, for some incredible or even difficult to grasp, attention to a thousand-and one details in his paintings.
It also taught him to endure the long seclusion he needs to finish one of his paintings, without too much awareness of privation.
At highschool, the urge to paint became larger and larger. After his exams, he looked at the possibilities that the courses at the different art academies were promising. Since his interest lay with the techniques of the Old Masters, especially with that of Jan van Eyck; and since at that particular point in time (Dutch) art academies had no interest in any technique whatsoever, he decided to follow his own course. What came next was a thorough study of the way of working by the Old Masters, as well as endless experiments with materials and techniques.
His paintings have a unique atmosphere. An atmosphere that first and foremost tries to create space for uncluttered phantasy in the on-looker. His portraits lay bare the intensity with which he identifies himself with his subject.
His continual quest for the highest degree of perfection, and even more: the degree of refinement he expects of his materials; often make it necessary for him to prepare his own grounds and paints.
Paul Christiaan’s way of work is the result of years of experiment; and though the essence of his work is not so easily caught in a few words, it makes sense to tell here a bit more about the paintings as well as the artist, so that his work may speak even stronger to the imagination.
Paul Christiaan’s peculiar awareness of his surroundings and artistic development spring partly form a long and unpleasant intermezzo in his youth. From his seventh year, a rare bone disease held him prisoner to a hospital bed for four years. He got as much love and attention from his family as was possible with the rare visits allowed, but still he must have led an isolated existence during a period when most other children start to explore life outside.
However, this forced bodily passivity also meant unfettered freedom for the imagination, which soon found an escape in the making of many, many drawings. One can easily envisage how the closeness of his environment taught Paul Christiaan Bos to closely and intensely observe the objects in it; especially the unusual attention to detail is an important aspect of his later work."
"Somewhere round his 16th Paul Christiaan Bos decided he had to become an artist and could hardly wait for the moment when he could finally fully dedicate himself to his art. And when this time came, he decided, with the wilfulness that is his own, not to attend a course at an art - academy, but to create his very own academy. At his parental home in Soest, Netherlands, he set out on this task with great enthusiasm; and of what subjects this self-made course consisted can be deduced, more or less, from the paintings that developed over the following years.
Apart from continual observation and drawing of nature, the study of the paintings of the Old Masters was, from the beginning, part of Paul Christiaan’s study. The way of painting in the technical sense was to be considered, the rendering of light and shadow to be absorbed, the expression of materials to be made his own.
With endless patience Paul Christiaan Bos painted in those years trees, flowers, weeds and living animals. A number of surrealist landscapes came from his hands, as well as very naturalistic details from the woods: knolls with gnarly trees en mysterious open places full of wild growth.
"Of the Old Masters it was most of all Jan van Eyck (ca. 1390-1442) who turned out to be an inspiration, in the artistic as well as in the technical sense.
Jan van Eyck, once unjustifiably regarded as the inventor of oil paint, experimented with this material till it became fluid enough to paint even the smallest detail with. His technical prowess can be recognized from the intensity of his colors, that are even today remarkable."
"Like his great predecessor Paul Christiaan Bos grinds his paint himself and is the technical composition of his paintings totally as per the classic rules of the early Renaissance: that is, meant to last. By the study of historic treaties about the craftsmanship aspect of painting and by time-consuming experiments he developed a technique that is also influencing the character of his work. To put it into a few words, the way his paintings - almost always on panel - develop is more or less along these lines: first a chalk ground is laid down on the wood. Then comes a brush line-drawing in Indian Ink. Thereafter follows the imprimatur, a thin resinous layer of oilpaint in which certain parts can be heightened with tempera- white to increase the light in the paint to come. Then an isolating layer of essence of resin with balsams is applied; and only then is the painting itself begun, oilpaint which in itself will often consist of numerous layers. The painting can further be perfected by the use of glacis, a very thin and transparent layer of paint that also influences the effect and the depth of the colors."
"In Friesland Paul Christiaan Bos gradually progressed towards further perfecting his technique, and forming his own style and his own themes. Surrounded by rural countryside he daily went out into nature, fully aware of the cycle of the seasons, each with their own light and color. He developed an admiration and a love of nature that almost touches on religious intensity.
The strong suggestiveness that his paintings have comes for the most part from the beauty and the intensity of his colors and of his treatment of light, the radiance of which is sometimes almost supernatural.
It also taught him to endure the long seclusion he needs to finish one of his paintings, without too much awareness of privation.
At highschool, the urge to paint became larger and larger. After his exams, he looked at the possibilities that the courses at the different art academies were promising. Since his interest lay with the techniques of the Old Masters, especially with that of Jan van Eyck; and since at that particular point in time (Dutch) art academies had no interest in any technique whatsoever, he decided to follow his own course. What came next was a thorough study of the way of working by the Old Masters, as well as endless experiments with materials and techniques.
His paintings have a unique atmosphere. An atmosphere that first and foremost tries to create space for uncluttered phantasy in the on-looker. His portraits lay bare the intensity with which he identifies himself with his subject.
His continual quest for the highest degree of perfection, and even more: the degree of refinement he expects of his materials; often make it necessary for him to prepare his own grounds and paints.
Paul Christiaan’s way of work is the result of years of experiment; and though the essence of his work is not so easily caught in a few words, it makes sense to tell here a bit more about the paintings as well as the artist, so that his work may speak even stronger to the imagination.
Paul Christiaan’s peculiar awareness of his surroundings and artistic development spring partly form a long and unpleasant intermezzo in his youth. From his seventh year, a rare bone disease held him prisoner to a hospital bed for four years. He got as much love and attention from his family as was possible with the rare visits allowed, but still he must have led an isolated existence during a period when most other children start to explore life outside.
However, this forced bodily passivity also meant unfettered freedom for the imagination, which soon found an escape in the making of many, many drawings. One can easily envisage how the closeness of his environment taught Paul Christiaan Bos to closely and intensely observe the objects in it; especially the unusual attention to detail is an important aspect of his later work."
"Somewhere round his 16th Paul Christiaan Bos decided he had to become an artist and could hardly wait for the moment when he could finally fully dedicate himself to his art. And when this time came, he decided, with the wilfulness that is his own, not to attend a course at an art - academy, but to create his very own academy. At his parental home in Soest, Netherlands, he set out on this task with great enthusiasm; and of what subjects this self-made course consisted can be deduced, more or less, from the paintings that developed over the following years.
Apart from continual observation and drawing of nature, the study of the paintings of the Old Masters was, from the beginning, part of Paul Christiaan’s study. The way of painting in the technical sense was to be considered, the rendering of light and shadow to be absorbed, the expression of materials to be made his own.
With endless patience Paul Christiaan Bos painted in those years trees, flowers, weeds and living animals. A number of surrealist landscapes came from his hands, as well as very naturalistic details from the woods: knolls with gnarly trees en mysterious open places full of wild growth.
"Of the Old Masters it was most of all Jan van Eyck (ca. 1390-1442) who turned out to be an inspiration, in the artistic as well as in the technical sense.
Jan van Eyck, once unjustifiably regarded as the inventor of oil paint, experimented with this material till it became fluid enough to paint even the smallest detail with. His technical prowess can be recognized from the intensity of his colors, that are even today remarkable."
"Like his great predecessor Paul Christiaan Bos grinds his paint himself and is the technical composition of his paintings totally as per the classic rules of the early Renaissance: that is, meant to last. By the study of historic treaties about the craftsmanship aspect of painting and by time-consuming experiments he developed a technique that is also influencing the character of his work. To put it into a few words, the way his paintings - almost always on panel - develop is more or less along these lines: first a chalk ground is laid down on the wood. Then comes a brush line-drawing in Indian Ink. Thereafter follows the imprimatur, a thin resinous layer of oilpaint in which certain parts can be heightened with tempera- white to increase the light in the paint to come. Then an isolating layer of essence of resin with balsams is applied; and only then is the painting itself begun, oilpaint which in itself will often consist of numerous layers. The painting can further be perfected by the use of glacis, a very thin and transparent layer of paint that also influences the effect and the depth of the colors."
"In Friesland Paul Christiaan Bos gradually progressed towards further perfecting his technique, and forming his own style and his own themes. Surrounded by rural countryside he daily went out into nature, fully aware of the cycle of the seasons, each with their own light and color. He developed an admiration and a love of nature that almost touches on religious intensity.
The strong suggestiveness that his paintings have comes for the most part from the beauty and the intensity of his colors and of his treatment of light, the radiance of which is sometimes almost supernatural.
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