Van Oostrom Fine Art

Bio - Theo van Oostrom

I was born in New Zealand and currently live in Australia. My passion is creating contemporary romantic realist paintings, conveying thematic subjects enhanced by a style displaying maximum visual clarity. I enhance my paintings by carefully choosing my lighting and my preferred methods of stylization.

I am self-taught and have extensively studied and practised the techniques employed by the old masters - applying a monochrome underpainting, then adding the glazing by painting many thin layers of pure oil colour to achieve a vibrant over-painting.

Stylistically, my greatest influence is Salvador Dali - not because of his surrealism but because of, within his best paintings, the radiant clarity his style projects.

A book I highly recommend is The Romantic Manifesto by Ayn Rand. An inspiring book for anyone interested in the nature of art and how art can fuel the human spirit. Why art reflects our view of existence and of man's mind.

My oil paintings and giclée prints are now owned and enjoyed by private art collectors internationally.