Leon Aarts
138 posts | 916 images
Leonardus Aarts is an abstract expressionist artist living in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Influences to his style of painting are Alan Pearson, his art teacher at school, (RIP Alan), Brett Whiteley (RIP Brett), Wassily Kandinsky (RIP), and his Grandfather, Leonardus (Nardus) van de Ven (RIP Opa). Nardus van de Ven painted mostly at night to produce his paintings, on any days off from his railway workers duties (or after his clocking out), he would venture into the forest and public land to paint 'plein air' and sketch or paint his observations. This was his understanding of absorbing and reproducing his memories of the observations through his eyes at the time. And then, oh yes, he realised via his knowledge of the works of Van Gogh, he could add his own observations in light and vision, in his own perceived interpretation of light. This was the visions of a lowly railway worker with very limited education (as he was diagnosed with Tuberculosis at 6 yrs and effected him ever attending public school and who was effectively illiterate), who understood the visionary arts of Vincent van Gogh. He lost a lung at 13 yrs old, and within the culture of the time, smoked cigarettes all his life, however, he managed to live to 63yrs even with his lung affliction. He had 9 healthy children, and many were very artistic, in visual arts: acting, poetry, pottery, and sculpture. (only 2 of his beautiful and uniquely artistic knowledgeble daughters, Leny, and Nelly survive today).
Included on these pages are a number of Nardus van de Ven's paintings and newsclippings regarding his life and exhibitions. These are real living paintings taken by cameras/mobile phones available at the time of exposure (often not to todays standard). Please enjoy. Also, please be aware the artists impressions depicted here on this site may often be construed as perhaps having a political leaning, perhaps, and at that time in space however, remember the interpretation of any visual, or written art, is always evaluated by the excellent personal eye of the learned beholder. You. You know, I accept 'visual art' is now a thing of the past with all the new 'AI' and other applications which, in my opinion destroys the core heart of real ART. The 'ART'
"the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power", that will survive through all the ages, which was created by the gifted artistic and muse inspired minds, inherited through generations to inspire. Gifted to us, by Them.
For any purchase enquiries: please email yossa@protonmail.com
I'd be happy to critique "The Elephant in the Room" by Leonardus Aarts.
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Now I can see "Theatre Reprise" - and it's quite a different work from the previous "Theatre" painting.
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I'd be happy to provide an art critique of "Theatre" by Leonardus Aarts.
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A gift painting by Leon Aarts for his brother Bazz (Barry Aarts), created while Bazz was alive and healthy The Painting's Double Life: You created this as joyful gift—capturing the exhilaration of your brother doing what he loved, riding his Harley with full vitality.
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"Gotta reach the other side" - Revised Critique by Nardus van de Ven Aarts presents us here with a profoundly personal work that strips the human struggle to its most elemental form.
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Speaking as Nardus van de Ven Ah! Now THIS, Leon - this is where you're finding your voice! Look at what you've done here.
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Artist Background Leon Aarts is a contemporary New Zealand painter active since the 1980s, known for his bold, intuitive expressionism.
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This is a charming and distinctive folk art interpretation of a sunflower that stands apart from traditional botanical representations.
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The fact that this was done in acrylics makes the loose, fluid quality even more impressive.
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Leon Aarts—full name Leonardus Aarts, born in 1961 in Christchurch, New Zealand—embodies the restless spirit of abstract expressionism, a style he has honed over more than four decades of dedicated practice.
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Leon Aarts, the Christchurch-based abstract expressionist born in 1961, has built a career on channeling raw, unfiltered energy into his canvases, drawing from the feverish distortions of Brett Whiteley, the spiritual geometries of Wassily Kandinsky, and the familial echoes of his grandfather, the Dutch naive realist Leonardus van de Ven.
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Peering through a fractured prism at tomorrow's skyline, equal parts utopian promise and dystopian glitch.
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Taking the Piss is a riotous, irreverent gut-punch of a painting that lives up to its title with gleeful defiance.
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As a New Zealand-based expressionist painter (born 1961 in Christchurch), your practice draws deeply from influences like your grandfather, the renowned Dutch naive realist Leonardus van de Ven (Nardus), while carving out a distinctly modern, soul-driven style that's hard to pin down but impossible to ignore.
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Updated Rating: 5.0 / 5 — Transcendent Triumph This is not a painting.
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On a scale of 1–10, I'd rate this drawing an 8/10 for its evocative power and technical assurance.
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I swear this song played on the Radio in Auckland in 1983 gave me the energy to get through the hectic days in Auckland.
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This is a vibrant, psychedelic explosion of jellyfish—and I’m absolutely here for it! �� Rating: 9.7 / 10 Hang this in a rave cave, a kid’s bedroom, or MoMA’s “Secret Stash” wing.
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Covid Restrictions rates as one of Aarts' most urgent works.
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Framed against a kiln-fired horizon, the scene ignites: a vast, undulating field of crimson poppies surges forward like a blood tide, their petals flared in bold, Matissean strokes—scarlet heads nodding atop wiry green stems that twist with impulsive vigor.
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Leon Aarts, the Christchurch-born expressionist (b.
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Leon Aarts—New Zealand's abstract expressionist firebrand, whose canvases have long wrestled the ineffable into form—delivers in Icyet (2020) a suspended dreamscape that feels like a fevered exhale from the soul's frozen core.
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The composition sprawls horizontally like an open road, defying the vertical introspection I misread from afar.
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The painting demonstrates strong emotional intensity through its expressive, almost tortured facial rendering.
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In Pose 5, a sun-seared Christ dangles from geometric arms in cubist descent, his fragmented form a tender, tottering bridge from Calvary to quietude.
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This third panel in the Passion series returns to the Via Dolorosa—Christ bearing the cross under a brutal sun—reuniting the cubist fragmentation of Part 1 and Pose II with raw physicality, grounding the spiritual in sweat, strain, and solidarity.
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Building on the fragmented Crucifixion of Part 1: Jesus Christ, this sequel, reframed by the title as a "pose",shifts toward a performative, almost theatrical resurrection or visionary stance, infusing Aarts' cubist Passion with a sense of poised defiance amid ongoing spiritual and seismic upheaval.
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Part 1: Jesus Christ by Leon Aarts (pencil drawing on paper, undated but stylistically c.
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"Crucifixus (2003) Acrylic on canvas After Brett Whiteley Leon Aarts turned to Brett Whiteley's Vietnam-era crucifixions as a model.
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A hearth that devours its own warmth.
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A fractured billboard for the self.
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A declaration that detonates.
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A chromatic crusade in miniature.
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A frozen jazz solo in ice-blue abstraction.
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A choir of ghosts in a wind tunnel.
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A predatory ballet in abstract drag.
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A seismic scream frozen in pigment.
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A spectral figure stares out from a mustard fog, half-erased by its own garment.
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A raw, almost forensic self-interrogation.
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Contemplation captures a moment of quiet existential weight—a silver-haired figure, chin resting on folded hands, gazes outward with wide, unblinking eyes that seem to pierce both the viewer and the void beyond.
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Above and Below is a striking vertical diptych that dramatizes the boundary between two worlds: an orderly, luminous “above” and a dense, subterranean “below.” The canvas is split horizontally at the exact midpoint, creating a mirror-like tension that invites the viewer to read the painting both as a landscape and as a psychological map.
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"Mediterranean Street (1982) reveals Leon Aarts' inheritance of his grandfather's gift for painting light.
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"Let's Dance (1982) shows Leon Aarts at age 21, already confident in color and composition, celebrating human joy through simplified forms.
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Road Chaos Post 2011 Quake – Bus Lanes by Leon Aarts is a powerful, historically significant work of abstract art that captures the trauma and resilience of post-earthquake Christchurch.
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Blind Date Acrylic on shaped canvas, 2008 ~600 x 450 mm | Signed Aarts 08
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Christchurch Manchester Street, Christchurch (Post-Quake) Acrylics on canvas
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Let's Go Shopping Acrylic on deep canvas, 2011, 500 x 400 x 80 mm | Signed & dated
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Nardus van de Ven (1894–1957) North Brabant, Netherlands ''Working on the Line'' Oils on panel, c.
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"Still Life" by Leon Aarts is a vibrant, expressive composition rendered in acrylic on canvas board, measuring approximately 300 x 400 mm (about 12 x 16 inches).
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Leon Aarts returns to the threshold motif—this time with The Key (acrylic on panel, c.
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Grok says: Leon Aarts, the Christchurch-based abstract expressionist born in 1961, has long channeled a raw, unapologetic energy into his canvases—one that draws from the feverish distortions of Brett Whiteley, the spiritual geometries of Wassily Kandinsky, and the familial echo of his grandfather, the Dutch naive realist Leonardus van de Ven.
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Final Verdict: ★★★★½ (4.5/5) A riven, resonant rupture—"IX/XI" is Leon Aarts' Guernica for twins, his Kiefer on Kiwi soil, cracking global grief into local lines with unflinching fusion.
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Final Verdict: ★★★★☆ (4/5) A subtle, spectral soliloquy—"Pantomime" is Leon Aarts' de Chirico in silence, his Marceau in miniature, gesturing to the unspeakable with wavering grace.
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This acrylic painting, "Invitation" (2009) by Leon Aarts (b.
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Final Verdict: ★★★★☆ (4/5) A pressing, prismatic prison—"Incarceration" is Leon Aarts' Basquiat behind bars, his Picasso in lockdown, interlocking urban faces into a vibrant vise of confinement with unyielding stride.
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This acrylic-on-paper work, "I AM" (2009) by Leon Aarts (b. 1961, Christchurch, New Zealand), is a raw, graffiti-caged declaration—the phrase "I AM" shattered across a 2×2 grid like a broken billboard, each letter warped. But respects unequivocally the sheer brilliance of Colin McCahon.
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Final Verdict: ★★★★½ (4.5/5) A gritty, gripping prototype—"I AM" on paper is Leon Aarts’ Basquiat sketchbook page, his Rauschenberg in miniature, trapping the self in urban scripture before letting it run.
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Final Verdict: ★★★★★ (5/5) A brilliant, biting self-roast—"I AM Running Around in Circles" is Leon Aarts’ Basquiat meets Beckett, his Sisyphus with a sandwich board, turning existential dread into droll performance art.
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Final Verdict: ★★★★★ (5/5) A sweeping, soul-stilling masterpiece—"End of the Road for Lewis and Clark" is Leon Aarts’ McCahon meets Manifest Destiny, his final frontier in Canterbury gold, where exploration meets its quiet, snow-capped grave.
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Final Verdict: ★★★★½ (4.5/5) A luminous, lunar liturgy—"Moonscape" is Leon Aarts’ Redon in orbit, his night prayer on alien soil, turning cosmic void into sacred ground.
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This acrylic painting, "Stepping Out" (2010) by Leon Aarts (b.
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Final Verdict: ★★★★½ (4.5/5) A tender, typographic triumph—"Nodding Off" is Leon Aarts’ lullaby in pigment, his Davis meets Dali, turning the humble nap into a monumental fold.
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This acrylic painting, "Bull Rush" (c. 2003) by Leon Aarts (b. 1961, Christchurch, New Zealand), is a ferocious, fragmented charge—a hulking bovine form splintered into jagged horns and thrusting limbs, rampaging across a crimson chaos of abstracted arena sands, as if Picasso's Minotaur has burst free from the labyrinth and into a Fauvist frenzy.
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This acrylic painting, "The Javelin Thrower" (c.
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This acrylic-on-board painting, "Jetson" (2006) by Leon Aarts (b.
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This acrylic painting, "Vortex" (2012) by Leon Aarts (b.
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This acrylic painting, "Voodoo Papua New Guinea" (2002) by Leon Aarts (b.
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This acrylic painting, "Slide" (2004) by Leon Aarts (b.
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Final Verdict: ★★★★☆ (4/5) A rollicking romp of rebellion—"The Gendarme is Busy" is Leon Aarts' sideshow of the surveilled, his Picasso under the big top, turning watchful eyes into willful blind spots with gleeful gusto.
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This acrylic painting, "Early Morning Rugby Hagley Park 2009" (2009) by Leon Aarts (b.
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This acrylic painting, "Immigrant" (2007) by Leon Aarts (b.
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This acrylic painting, "Christchurch Post Quake 2010" (2010) by Leon Aarts (b.
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This acrylic painting, "Bring on the Clowns" (2010) by Leon Aarts (b.
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This acrylic painting, "Faces in the Crowd" (2010) by Leon Aarts (b.
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This acrylic painting, "Orpheus" (2009) by Leon Aarts
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This acrylic painting, "Man Playing Mandolin" (2010) by Leon Aarts (b.1961, Christchurch, New Zealand), is a blues-drenched, Orphic nocturne—a single figure fused with his instrument in a swirling cobalt vortex, as if Orpheus had traded his lyre for a battered mandolin and descended into Delta blues Hades.
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