RENE JACOBS | PAINTINGS AND OBJECTS

Introduction

 

René Jacobs was born on April 20, 1969, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He is married and has two daughters who are 18 years old. He studied Economics at Erasmus University and discovered art and painting later in life. Between 1993 and 2000, he worked as a senior management accountant at P&ONL Containers. Starting in 2000, he began to phase out his business career to become a full-time artist. He opened his own gallery in the historic town of Delft, where he works in the shop window, allowing people to watch him at work. The gallery has been an overwhelming success: since 2006, René Jacobs has sold over 1,000 paintings in 40 countries. Last year, one of his artworks, a "Girl with a Pearl Earring" made of 6,000 plastic dolls, went viral and was featured on national television in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, and beyond. Even CNN Indonesia broadcasted an interview with him.

 

Art

 

René Jacobs has explored various styles over the years. For him, development and change are crucial elements of his artistry. He relates strongly to a quote by the famous Rotterdam artist Willem de Kooning: “I have to change to stay the same.” Over the years, he has created classical figurative oil paintings and mixed media works, which are partially painted and partly designed on the computer. He has also produced several series of landscapes and seascapes using driftwood. Currently, he is working on what he calls his "interventions": he paints contemporary scenes or science fiction fantasies into old, existing paintings, sometimes dating back to the 17th century. However, he is primarily focused on creating artworks with his plastic dolls. In his words: “Increasingly, society is encountering problems that impact us as a community and must be solved collectively. Additionally, the population density, especially in an overcrowded country like the Netherlands, is becoming a serious issue. The plastic dolls form a scale model of us as a society and the challenges we face.” He sometimes describes his work as Tragic Realism.

 

We are Mondrian, plastic figurines, 97 x 97 cm.
We are Mondrian, plastic figurines, 97 x 97 cm.
Gold Rush, plastic figurines in an antique garden table base, 75 x 136 cm. The figurines in this artwork appear to be manically searching for more money, more gold, more wealth. But can it still be found?
Gold Rush, plastic figurines in an antique garden table base, 75 x 136 cm. The figurines in this artwork appear to be manically searching for more money, more gold, more wealth. But can it still be found?
Rene Jacobs paintings
Archive the Dutch pigeonholing mentality. The Dutch eagerly categorize themselves and others into boxes. Plastic figurines and acrylic paint in type cases. 106 x 83 cm

Available


Run 4 the Money. Plastic dolls in vintage wooden drawers.
Run 4 the Money. Plastic dolls in vintage wooden drawers.
Growing Nowhere  Plastic dolls in vintage wooden drawers, 59 x 59 x 9 cm, 2024     We constantly want to grow, always more. More money, more people, more economic growth, more travel, more discoveries, more more more.
Growing Nowhere Plastic dolls in vintage wooden drawers, 59 x 59 x 9 cm, 2024   We constantly want to grow, always more. More money, more people, more economic growth, more travel, more discoveries, more more more.
Rene Jacobs schilderijen
Sample of the Countryside, Oil paint on Delft Blue on cigar molds. Size: 61 x 70 cm. Our beloved countryside is at risk of disappearing until nothing remains but these samples with the colors of times gone by.
Rene Jacobs schilderijen
God in His Tiny, Little Universe, 2400 plastic figurines, wooden doll, in an antique drawer, 46 x 46 cm. Who says God is almighty and the universe is nearly infinite? In this artwork, a crowd gathers around a limited, golden lump meant to represent God
Rene Jacobs schilderijen
Theater of Silence. Plastic dolls and colored epoxy in an antique cheese mold. 41x41x15cm. It is time to take measures, the water is rising and the first people have already disappeared below sea level, but for now it remains silent. EUR 2650.
Heaven. Plastic dolls in antique brick mold. 15 x 31 cm  EUR 950. My idea of Heaven fell short as a child. It is true that everyone leads a carefree life in Heaven, but it is also a bit of a dead end.
Heaven. Plastic dolls in antique brick mold. 15 x 31 cm EUR 950. My idea of Heaven fell short as a child. It is true that everyone leads a carefree life in Heaven, but it is also a bit of a dead end.
Rene Jacobs, Archief de Branding, Olieverf op sloophout in antieke letterbakken, 83 x 86 cm  Jaar: 2022. Prijs op aanvraag
Rene Jacobs, Archief de Branding, Olieverf op sloophout in antieke letterbakken, 83 x 86 cm Jaar: 2022. Prijs op aanvraag
On our way  Plastic figurines in antique cheese mold. Diameter 45 cm. We're on our way but no one seems to know where to. EUR 2450.   
On our way Plastic figurines in antique cheese mold. Diameter 45 cm. We're on our way but no one seems to know where to. EUR 2450.  
Van Gogh. 70 x 90 cm. Mixed media on canvas.
Van Gogh. 70 x 90 cm. Mixed media on canvas.
The Windmill. 20x20 cm
The Windmill. 20x20 cm
Rene Jacobs paintings
High tea with sugar, Mixed media on canvas, 85x80 cm
Rene Jacobs paintings
Lingo, oil on canvas, 50x70 cm
Rene Jacobs paintings
Pasaporte por favor, 70x50 cm
Rene Jacobs schilderijen
Superman in Rotterdam, 20x80 cm


SOLD


Rene Jacobs paintings
SOLD. Netherlands, land of water. Plastic figurines in antique olive barrel with coloured epoxy. Diameter 67 cm.
SOLD, God is another DJ. Oil on panel, 26x32 cm
SOLD, God is another DJ. Oil on panel, 26x32 cm
SOLD. Title: 2019. Crowd images from 2019 now seem surreal and antique. Material: 200 dolls in an antique cheese mold. Size: diameter 14 cm.    
SOLD. Title: 2019. Crowd images from 2019 now seem surreal and antique. Material: 200 dolls in an antique cheese mold. Size: diameter 14 cm.   
Rene Jacobs schilderijen
We are the girl with the pearl earring, 67 x 77 cm.
SOLD. Tweedeling  Plastic poppetjes en MDF in antieke lade  41 x 40 cm
SOLD. Tweedeling Plastic poppetjes en MDF in antieke lade 41 x 40 cm
Rene Jacobs
SOLD. It's in the eye of the beholder New! 13 x 26 cm Acrylic paint and plastic dolls in an antique French butter mould. Price on request  

René Jacobs is a 48 year old artist who was born in Rotterdam. Rene Jacobs always has been fascinated by the past and its relation with the present. Painters like Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Rogier van der Weyden and Vermeer have been his teachers and have remained an important source of inspiration. He has given some of their masterpieces a humorous twist to bring them back to our present time.

 

The Mona Lisa was given braces (made from iron wire and molted lead) to reveal the secret behind her mysterious smile.

 

The nun from Rogier van der Weyden is smoking a cigarette and seems to communicate with God via circles of smoke.

 

The Girl with the Pearl Earring was transformed into an image of pixels. The painting has been created with small blocks of old, painted wood. The viewer is invited to create his own girl with the pearl earring in his imagination.

 

But the work of Rene Jacobs goes beyond the recreation of well-known masterpieces. Rene Jacobs is also fascinated by the way modern times are changing the classical landscape. This theme is captured in the “battle of the windmills”. Rene Jacobs has painted some modern windmills on top of an existing, hand painted tile tableau from the fifties with classical windmills.

 

Finally the old meets the new in the painting “No Satisfaction 4 Keith” where Keith Richards is cleaning the streets to make a living. His fame has crumbled into obscurity but the rock star inside him will never die. In this painting Rene Jacobs is combining modern digital techniques with classical oil paint. Past meets present in the colourful and humorous artworks of Rene Jacobs.

 

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