Not long after having published his superbly edited book “Kunst als Spiegel” (Art is a Mirror), Albert van Gulik is coming up with a beautifully illustrated publication containing his paintings and reflexions regarding the place of women in society. Man, woman and their mutual relationship as well as with the world they live in is a recurrent theme that underlies much of Albert’s work as a painter. He has chosen to write this book in English under the title “Woman”. He has also opted to make it cheaper by producing it in paperback form which will enable him to reach out to a much wider readership.

According to Albert, woman’s whole behaviour is the consequence of a society subservient to the needs and demands of men. Contrary to what the emancipatory movements might cause to believe women are not conscious according to him of this nevertheless obvious fact and continue to submit to male criteria of dominance.

During his entire life Albert has expressed in his paintings his awareness of this injustice. His aim is to make it clear on canvas that women are the equals of men and that both are the natural complement of each other in their own right.

I have often noted that painters are excellent writers. Their visual perception makes them alert to the particularities of their surroundings of which they often give colourful descriptions. Their eye for detail frequently sums up a whole situation without resorting to lengthy explanations. In the essay that accompanies the paintings reproduced in his new book Albert’s challenging statements are put quite bluntly. When I browse through glossy fashion magazines he says, I hardly see a real woman but only hollow-eyed morbid and depressed figures staring at me blankly and hoping somehow in this way to seduce me. The time has come for women to stop playing the “testosterone card” and regain their true nature so that the relationship between man and woman occurs on equal terms.

The many paintings of women contained in “Woman” are there to prove the author’s point. Albert is an excellent portrait painter with a sharp psychological insight. I particularly liked the beautiful portraits showing women at different stages of their life: the innocence of the child, the little girl still not aware of the realities of life, the unsure and questioning look of the teenager, the young woman now fully aware of what she is expected to be, the woman who has accepted to correspond to that image and finally the neutering effect of age.

Albert showed me a practically final version of the manuscript which is in the process of publication. Food for thought that might interest the reader of my blog. If so, they are invited to contact the author for further details by contacting him: albertvangulik.com/contact

In the course of publication. Cost: around €30

€75 or €150 with an original watercolor painting