Murmansk Nr. 3 Painting

I am Cornelis van Houte, former Navy servicemember, painter and lifelong student of perception. My work seeks to explore the tension between memory, place, and emotion. I paint because I believe that color, light, and atmosphere can evoke experiences deeper than any photograph or description. My canvases are not faithful replicas of reality — they are invitations to perceive, remember, and feel. Rooted in the expressive traditions of neo Impressionism and the sensibilities inspired by the Leningrad school, I aim to blend realism and abstraction, allowing brush, pigment, and vision to meet in a space where form dissolves into emotion. My new series — juxtaposing the icy light of Murmansk with the heat and vibrancy of Kinshasa — reflects this ambition. By placing these contrasting geographies side by side, I explore themes of distance and connection, separation and unity, memory and transformation. I work directly, with expressive brushwork and a palette tuned to human experience — striving to create not an image, but an atmosphere; not a scene, but a resonant moment. I invite viewers to slow down, to look beyond surface, and to discover the invisible threads that bind us across continents, climates, and memories. When you choose a painting by me, you invest not only in pigment and canvas, but in story, atmosphere, and memory. Each painting opens a doorway — to far away places, hidden emotions, and the silent dialogues between landscapes and human experience. The Murmansk–Kinshasa series stands as a bold statement: a juxtaposition of extremes that reveals unexpected harmony. Collectors drawn to expressive brushwork, emotional depth, and refined aesthetic vision will find in the canvases a rare blend of tradition and contemporary sensibility. The subtle interplay between color, light, and composition transforms each piece into an evocative moment — a poem in paint. Whether it becomes the focal point of a room or a quiet companion in a reading corner, each work invites reflection, resonating with individual memory, longing, and the quiet power of visual intelligence.