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May 2004
The Shropshire Magazine
Master Strokes
Henry Carpenter meets an artist with a new angle on a classical style of painting
Think art collections and the names of Guggenheim, Getty and Saatchi might spring to mind, the art-loving super-wealthy whose collected works are discussed the world over by anyone with an interest in art history.
The Leenhouwers Collection is not an ensemble of paintings steadily acquired over the years by the eponymous Carl Leenhouwers but with a fleeting glimpse an observer might believe it is, for it consists of paintings which could easily pass as a selection of works by the likes of Claude, Poussin, Cuyp and Millais.
Actually it is a collection of works created by Carl himself and, although they are far from copies, they are variations of the originals. However, as a keen disciple of the old masters’ methods, they are as close stylistically and technically to their as you are likely to find in a hurry.
Carl lives in Wellington, and with an easel set up in his living room Carl is well on the way to completing another large canvas which, it transpires, is an interpretation of Millais pond scene. He likes painting with activity around him, he says, so he has no qualms about living in a town and enjoys the company of the tweeting birds in his aviary. The light’s perfectly good enough in his living room to rule out the need for a studio he says.
Over his 48 years Carl’s life journey to Wellington has, for varying lengths of time, included spells living in Holland, the US, New Zealand and London.
His accent suggests that he is a New Zealander and was born to a Dutch father, hence the European surname.
“I moved from New Zealand in 1978 and then left London for Wellington at the end of the 1980s because my partner at the time wanted a more rural lifestyle,” he explains.
But it was when he was working in Covent Garden and visited the National Gallery about 25 years ago that he became captivated by the works of the Old Masters.
“I was already experimenting with all the arts,” he continues. “I was quite an abstract person so the old master genre was an antidote to my madness! I find modernism can be quite repetitive in many ways.
“I studied and experimented with their techniques for the first 10 years and after doing a number of copies I started to do more variations on the subject matter.”
Commissions started coming Carl’s way which, he believes, suited him “because I believe I can paint almost anything, whether it is portraiture, landscapes or still life in a grand, fantastic sort of style.”
In terms of how his paintings have evolved, he explains: “I constantly chop and change direction according to how it feels to me at the time. It’s a certain type of beauty I am trying to achieve, always reaching for the unattainable.
“I’m ruthlessly critical of what I am doing in art. It’s a philosophical approach really, as the beauty of perception of the unknown is timeless. When you look at a great work of art it can take you somewhere that can’t be explained and that’s what it’s all about.
“Because beauty, detail and use of colour are all tools to get you to that place. I don’t know whether I achieve it or not. The thing is people do seem to like to see things they can identify with easily.”
The extent of the detail Carl incorporates in his paintings goes some way to explaining why his paintings can take up to 900 hours to complete, depending on the subject and other factors.
Although his paintings have been displayed in galleries in London and elsewhere, Carl is not an avid exhibitor, preferring instead to add to his already substantial collection on the most accessible gallery of all, the internet.
The Leenhouwers Collection can be viewed on: www.fineoldmasters.com
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