"Lady sings the blues" Painting

Bastiaen Vries is a portrait painter based in Amsterdam. In his work, he explores expression, character, and the person behind the face.

From 2024 to 2026, Bastiaen has been a member of the art group ‘Masters of Realism’ and has taken part in several group exhibitions with the collective. He will leave the group at the end of 2026. In 2024 his work was exhibited at the Chianciano Art Biennale in Italy. In 2023, he was invited to participate in the London Art Biennale, where he received the Chianciano Museum Award.

In 2022, he gained wider recognition through his participation in the television programme ‘Sterren op het Doek’ (Stars on Canvas). In the episode featuring Rob Kemps, his portrait was selected as the winner. That same year, he was ranked among the top 10 in the ‘Painting of the Year 2022’ competition. He also exhibited at the biennial ‘Weekend of the Portrait’, organised by the Dutch Portrait Prize Foundation.

Before focusing more fully on painting, Bastiaen worked as a head designer in the fashion industry. His education at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute played a significant role in his artistic development, particularly through its emphasis on life drawing and creative techniques. To deepen his focus on portraiture, he completed a two-year programme Portretmeesters with Rogier Willems.

Art played an important role in his family from an early age. His great-grandfather painted landscapes and portraits well into old age, and his mother also drew and painted alongside work and family life. These influences helped shape his early interest in drawing and painting.

In addition to his own work, Bastiaen works with people with aphasia through the Marline Fritzius Foundation, supporting them in painting, drawing and sculpture. This work has also influenced the way he looks at creativity and the painting process.

My vision:
In my portraits, I look beyond likeness to what makes someone recognisably themselves. I try to convey both strength and vulnerability, as well as warmth, tenderness and something of the human presence that is not always easy to put into words.

During the painting process, there is sometimes a moment when everything begins to come together. The gaze, posture, colour and brushwork start to respond to one another, and the portrait develops a presence of its own. I think of this as the moment when the painting begins to ‘speak’ to me. When that happens, I usually know that the work has found its direction.