From eight finalists, Tjalf Sparnaay has been chosen as Artist of the Year 2025. The artist – also a Master of Realism – will receive the trophy that comes with this title on Saturday, November 16, at 11:30 am during the National Art Days in Gorinchem.
Lotta Blokker finishes in second place, followed by Levi van Veluw and Iris van Herpen. Claudy Jongstra, Bas Kosters, Simon Schrikker, and Lara de Moor finish in fifth to eighth place respectively. These eight artists also top the Gallery of Contemporary Artists, the list that annually includes the hundred most valued Dutch visual artists.
Some opinions from panelists and the public associated with the election about Tjalf Sparnaay:
Realistic painting requires great craftsmanship, especially if you want to match reality so precisely as all of Tjalf Sparnaay’s works show.
Tjalf is an incredible artist who can paint so realistically that you would want to touch and eat it. And also a particularly friendly man :-).
Tjalf Sparnaay has given painting an extra dimension, putting the viewer on the wrong track.
Tjalf’s detailed blow-ups of everyday food give me a feeling of: ‘I never really looked at the beauty of simplicity. And now I see it. Brilliant!’
Tjalf Sparnaay goes a step further than the realistic representation of photography, which puts his paintings on a higher level. His hyperrealistic painting technique remains exciting to watch. Where the technically realistic work of many painters is painted to death, Sparnaay’s work comes to life. If you zoom in further, his reflections (which have no existence without dark parts) become almost abstract.
