Dirk Oudes was working as a repairer of watches and clocks when, around 1930, he began to feel the need to take up drawing and painting. Artists friends, like the brothers Bernard and Koos Stikvoort, Jan Plas and the German painter Erwin Bowien taught him the principles of the trade. Dirk Oudes used to paint on panels of about 60x50 cm. The realm of his imagination is firmly based in Noord-Holland country life and village scenes.
Dirk Oudes, Pigsty, oil on panel, 40x46.5 cm., collection Museum De Wieger, Deurne (NL). This scene owes its intimate character to the special way the paint has been applied, its bright sunlight. The painter takes up a high position-something he does in many representations-, which results in a somewhat distorted perspective.
Dirk Oudes, Village café, oil on panel, 40x65 cm, collection Province of Noord-Holland. In representing this café scene, which he may have seen in his own neighbourhood, Oudes had the café interiors of Vincent van Gogh in mind. The green walls and the wooden floor, painted in loose strokes, make up the atmosphere in this room, where anonymous visitors are seeking some diversion.
Dirk Oudes, Nymphs on a ship, oil on panel, 40x46.5 cm., collection Museum De Wieger, Deurne (NL). An elegantly styled ship with a huge mast is populated by scores of people, many of whom are nude girls. These girls are either taken ashore, or picked up from the shore in a sloop. This dream scene reminds one of the works of Henri Rousseau, André Bauchant and Edgar Tytgat. | | Dirk Oudes took a lively interest in the history of art. He was profoundly influenced by Vincent van Gogh, and later also by Henri ?le douanier? Rousseau, Picasso and Cobra artists like Constant and Piet Ouborg. His work is situated between expressionism and primitive art. It was admired by the French primitive André Bauchant and the connoisseur of primitive art Kaspar Niehaus; this confirms the special place his work takes. Dirk Oudes never opted for an artistic calling as a means of existence. This explains why he had few exhibitions, and why his name is not as widely-known as the names of his contemporaries in Alkmaar and Bergen.
Dirk Oudes, Strolling couple, ca. 1940-1950, pencil, 12x16 cm. On a country lane between small farms and gigantic houses, a farming couple are strolling in the afternoon sun. Each little space in this swiftly drawn representation has been individually filled up, making it into a lively entity.
Dirk Oudes, Girl and goat in a landscape, pencil, ca. 1950-1960, 12x16 cm. In this seemingly innocent drawing, with strongly contrasting foreground and background, there is a black sun in the left top, and a white sun in the right top. The girl and the goat do not seem to be aware of a cow and a cock dropping from the sky behind them. The picture is characteristic of the absurdist atmosphere in the later works of Dirk Oudes.
Dirk Oudes, Couple, sandstone, height about 22 cm. During a short period of time, Oudes cut small sculptures from a soft variety of stone. You can recognize from his drawings the elegant, round shapes. This way of stylising and omitting details, reinforce the feeling of unity of the two lovers. |
