by
Armand Cabrera
I have been planning to do a post on Poortvliet for some time when I found this video in English on YouTube put up by Erik Fernström its about 20 minutes
He is most famous for his book of Gnomes but had many other books including Journey to the Ice Age, Noah’s Ark, The Living Forest and He Was One of Us. He was the first artist I ever came across that produced books that seemed to be based on sketches loosely built around a theme. They were very organic, and looked to be created the way one would create a personal sketchbook.
While there have been many artists who have produced books of sketches or drawing going back to the beginning of representational art, those books always seemed planned and very formal to me. His books are a marvel, filled with hundreds of drawings and watercolor or oil vignettes stuck all over the pages. Each book also has full page finished paintings every few pages to anchor the rest of the work. Usually the accompanying text is in script.
I don’t have any biographical information from any of his English language books that I own but Wikipedia has some information here
If you are not familiar with his work I suggest picking up one of his books, The Farm Book, My Grandfather’s House or Dutch Treat are a good place to start. All of his books show a joy of drawing and painting.
Bibliography
The Living Forest
He Was One of Us
The Farm Book
Gnomes
Co-authored with Wil Huygen
Horses
Dutch Treat
Secrets of the Gnomes
Noah’s Ark
In My Grandfather’s House
The Book of the Sandman
Daily Life in Holland in the Year 1566
Dogs
Journey to the Ice Age
