Michael van Ofen

It takes the one lucky punch to make it work properly,
and in times, it is just one lucky punch.

Can I ask the each story in your painting, starting with “Bismarck”?

Story is always a lot of work (laughs).

I found another Bismarck works before this.

I repeat some motives. First I did in 2004, only recently I started again with this idea, of just reduced, full of figure, portrait, but imaginary one.

Do you refer to any portrait of Bismarck this time?

Nothing. Nothing particular. In the beginning, 2004, it was a portrait of Bismarck by Franz von Lenbach, 19th century Munich painter.

The black background one, I think I saw on the website.

Maybe it is up on the website. It is the head with white collar.

Very historical one.

Yes. It was the first time. It was done after Franz von Lenbach.

It seems that numbers of brush strokes are made on the process of painting.

Hundred times, seriously. It is not joking. It was terrible. I started with head and the head took about hundred times. Once the head is there, it is an essential element; two hands have to be matching it.

First, you started with the head.

Yes. It is really not easy. If it is too dark, if it is too irregular, if it is too… many mistakes happens. It has to look (snap) just like that.

You decide the composition and color as well before you start.

Yes of course. Yes.

Do you have any model for this portrait of the lady with the hat?

From the historical source I got the idea of straw hat, and it’s kind of a position of face. It is from Friedrich von Amerling, 19th century, Viennese painter. But his work and mine is only similar, not same. He did different colors. I changed the colors.

Not actual person.

No. It’s a lot of historical source.

You do not paint concrete objects or people.

Not yet, no. I often talk about doing portraits, a kind of a job. A collector can come in and order it, but it never happens. I did portraits in color reverse, the opposite of normal color, but these people as well are very imaginative. I could offer this to a customer, client, but once it is a portrait of children, family, it never happened.

Are most of your works based on existing painting from histories?

More or less yes. This one is very much far away from you. If I show it to you, you would not think there is a connection. So it develops to some different directions.
That is why there is no story source. It is kind of image I know now how it works, how to do it.

Therefore this painting "Green Officer" is just a portrait of a green officer with no name, right?

That is a pure imagination.

Is that painting the landscape -- the one with red, purple and black?

Yes. I mean, it is whatever you see. If you think it is a rabbit, it is a rabbit, I would not complain.

I thought it looks like a view from plane.

Yeah, yeah.

Anything is ok.

Whatever the view has to imagine, connote, it is ok, I cannot control it. Open offer for association, connotation, imagination, whatever it is and if you see a rabbit, I cannot help it.
I just had the idea with the Bismarck painting and struggle with a head, that is a term for boxing sports. If there is a weak boxer, he cannot win against a strong boxer, if he gets the one lucky punch. Technically from the physical power there is no chance but sometimes it happens that weaker has a one lucky punch, and it was a bit like a brush strokes. It takes the one lucky punch to make it work properly, and in times, it is just one lucky punch.

So you are fighting with the paintings.

From this time, I am supposed to be the loser. To start, it is a feeling of “oh, what am I gonna do, oh no, I can’t, what am I gonna paint?” But do not give up and wait for the lucky punch, until something good happens.
Sometimes it does not happen and I destroy painting of course. The problem is the more color you put on the canvas, the more gray and fuzzy it becomes, and at some point that is the end and you have to restart from the beginning again. Not too quickly, at least five rounds of fighting waiting for the lucky punch.

What made you explore the style, between abstract and figurative? Did you start with figurative works first?

In the beginning it was the idea of taking a more or less bad paintings, bad historical sources of 19th century. This happened around 1993, 94, and I thought, well take these historical paining, try to find out what is so terrible about them.
Sometimes it is just the way they are too detailed. They are too colorful sometimes, but you can turn into a good painting, or you can make it darker. You can be more minimal, reduced.
It is the idea when you are sitting in a room with terrible decoration and when the light goes down, like in dusk, you notice it comes more and more information reduced.

Very romantic.

Walking around during the dusk is touching for me.

Right.

It affects the body.

The title of this black-based painting is "Spitzweg." Can I ask about Carl Spitzweg(1808 - 1885 : German romanticist painter) ? He was a painter and also a poet.

He was a poet?

No?

I don't think so...(Looking at the images of the famous paintings by Carl Spitzweg.) This painting is called poor poet. I do not know if I am right or wrong.

Your "Spitzweg" is based on his painting?

Yes, I found the image his painting called "Ein Besuch" in the internet. Landscape with dusky, yellowish sky and old man sitting along the landscape of painting, very kitschy. He is a very good painter, but he is kind of dorky, too kitschy.
It is a bit romantic but little bit comical, very interesting.

Do you prefer Romanticism paintings?

Whether I like it? When I go to museum, yes. But I like all the artists as well. I favor much Baroque time; Spanish, Dutch baroque painters, best painting period of any kind.
Frans Hals, Vermeer… and in Spain, Velàzquez…

Vermeer is popular in Japan as well. There is now a big exhibition of him at Ueno.（note: This interview was taken in October 2008.)

He did not paint that much there cannot be a big exhibition (laughs). He only painted thirty something.

Six paintings are in the show, I heard (laughs).

I saw his big exhibition; I think it was in Den Haag with his early paintings. When you look at his earlier painting, you think, he is not very talented painter. But someone found the way to find a good construction of painting, with his material. He did not give up either, waiting for the lucky punch.

Michael van Ofen