François Portais

Landscapes and seascapes are central to my paintings. Rather than literal representations of reality, they express something that unfolds between myself and the landscape. Somewhere between figuration and abstraction, my work takes shape in what can best be described as a form of romantic expressionism. The visible world serves merely as a point of departure. My artistic vision is rooted in three major historical and stylistic movements: Romanticism: I feel a profound affinity with the philosophy and poetry of Novalis and the atmospheric, introspective landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich, in which nature serves as a mirror of the soul. German Expressionism: The melancholic, multilayered poetry of Georg Trakl and the raw, emotionally charged visual language of painters such as Oskar Kokoschka inspire the expressive intensity and dynamism of my compositions. The New York School: The expansive abstraction and spiritual resonance of American Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting of the 1960s - particularly Mark Rothko’s monumental use of colour and Willem de Kooning’s richly textured surfaces - have profoundly influenced my layered fields of colour and atmospheric seascapes. Through expressive seascapes, dune landscapes, and nocturnal scenes, I explore the threshold where the material world dissolves into an inner landscape. My work, primarily executed in acrylic or oil on canvas and panel, invites the viewer to pause and contemplate the mystery of existence. From 1990 to 1994, I studied at the Ruudt Wackers Academy in Amsterdam.