Luc Leestemaker (May 18, 1957 – May 18, 2012) was an American

abstract expressionist Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...

artist who was born in

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

, the Netherlands. Leestemaker was born in Hilversum and raised in

Nuenen Nuenen () is a town in the municipality of Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten in the Netherlands. From 1883 to 1885, Vincent van Gogh lived and worked in Nuenen. In 1944, the town was a battle scene during Operation Market Garden. The local dialect is ...

(Noord-Brabant). In

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,

Biography

Upon moving to the U.S. in 1990, Leestemaker committed himself to painting full-time. His early influences included the CoBrA movement, abstract expressionism, inner landscape and transfiguration, and 17th and 18th century Dutch and English landscape painters, including

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

and

Salomon van Ruysdael Salomon van Ruysdael (c. 1602, Naarden – buried 3 November 1670, Haarlem) was a Dutch Golden Age landscape painter. He was the uncle of Jacob van Ruisdael.

. In 2006, Canadian composer Vincent Ho (Composer in Residence at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra) used four paintings of the artist for a chamber music work in four parts, titled "Four Paintings by Leestemaker." Funded by the Canadian Arts Council, this work was performed at a number of music festivals throughout China. The video artist and animator Edber Mamesao choreographed a 20-minute visual interpretation of this composition and a DVD version of this compilation as part of a hardcover book about the artist's life and work. In September 2007, his "Breaking Through the Canvas" premiered at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. He died of cancer on May 18, 2012, his 55th birthday.

Mature works

Leestemaker's paintings are exhibited throughout the U.S. and internationally. Two retrospective museum exhibitions were held in 2004. Boston Galerie d'Orsay hosted an exhibition with a selection of the museum works for the artist in 2005. The documentary "Swimming Through the Clouds", about the artist's life and work, was screened at a number of film festivals around the world and broadcast by Link TV, a culture and arts satellite network. His work is featured in corporate and public collections, including Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Estrella-Banner Medical Campus in Phoenix, Four Seasons Hotel in the Bahamas, Genzyme International in Boston, Harvard University at the Offices of Neuro-Science Department, Las Vegas International Airport, Miramax Films, Mitsubishi-Shiodome Project in Tokyo, 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, Toyota USA Headquarters in Torrance, and Iris A. Walsh Foundation in Winnipeg. The artist collaborated with composer and musician

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking ...

and created the artwork for Haden's 2005 Grammy award-winning CD ''Land of the Sun''. His collaboration with Hollywood's film industry has led to a number of film and television projects, including ''Spider-Man'', ''Bringing Down the House'', ''Erin Brockovich'', ''Simone'', ''Shopgirl'', ''American Dreamz'', ''Spider-Man 3'', ''Fracture'', and ''Boston Legal''. In 2010, Skylark Press published ''The Intentional Artist: Stories of My Life,'' a series of essays by the artist with an overview of paintings that span 20 years. Other books published include: * ''Luc Leestemaker, Paintings 1990–2000'' SWC Editions, 2000. * ''Luc Leestemaker; Landscapes'' SWC Editions, 2002 * ''Luc Leestemaker; The Voyage'' Skylark Press, 2007.

Bibliography

;Film Documentaries: *''Swimming through the Clouds; A Portrait of the Artist Luc Leestemaker'', directed by Terence Gross and Ruy Carpenter. Chronicle Films, 2004. *''A Conversation with Luc Leestemaker.' Directed by Emily Lau. Skylark Press, 2007. ;Related Recordings: *''Four Paintings by Leestemaker'' by Vincent Ho. Commissioned by

The Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

, Canada. Self-titled debut CD by composer Vincent Ho. Skylark Press, 2007. * Collective consciousness * New Music Festival Features Four Paintings by Leestemaker

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leestemaker, Luc 1957 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Dutch painters Dutch male painters 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists Abstract expressionist artists Dutch emigrants to the United States Modern painters People from Hilversum Painters from Amsterdam Artists from Los Angeles 20th-century American male artists 20th-century Dutch male artists