Willem Alexander on the dike

About this artwork.

Hinke Posthuma (b. 1971) is originally a Frisian artist and is regarded as a Northern realist. She graduated from the Minerva Academy Groningen in 1996 and then started her own career as an artist. Posthuma still works in a studio building in the Haddingestraat in Groningen. She finds her subjects close to herself: people and animals, but also objects that she collects around her because they appeal to her. Her oil paintings are immediately recognizable by their deliberate, sober use of color, the compositions, the striking points of view, special picture frames, elaborate details and a high degree of finishing. She often travels to North Groningen for inspiration for the animal paintings. She lies among the sheep on the dike, visits farms and small farmers. But there are also plenty of animals in the city that inspire her. Animals, animals. People, people. People and animal, the interaction between the two, an infinite source of inspiration.

The painting of Willem Alexander on the dike was painted by Hinke Posthuma in 2013. It was Alice Brouwer, owner of the Frisian gallery ZoFier, who organized a competition that year on the occasion of the enthronement in April 2013. She asked northern artists to make a portrait of the king. The most beautiful portraits were exhibited in the gallery. Posthuma worked with photos that were available in the media and looked for an image in the background that added a certain message to the future King Willem-Alexander. Soon the idea came up to use a sea dike as a background, after all, Willem-Alexander would become the king of the ‘low countries’. Through a jury of experts and a public vote via the gallery's website, the painting Willem Alexander on the dike was chosen as the winner for the province of Groningen. On January 17, 2014, Hinke Posthuma and Alice Brouwer presented the painting together to the City Hall on the Grote Markt.

Facts & Figures.

• Artist(s)
  Hinke Posthuma

• Year of creation
  2013

• Dimensions (in cm)
  50x140

• Collection
  Town Hall Collection

• Technic
  Oil paint on panel