Who is LazaR?

LazaR was born in Utrecht, the Netherlands, the cradle of the great Dutch Masters.
He is an autodidactic artist who has been painting and drawing most his life. Growing up he had two passions, soccer and drawing. Outdoors you would always see him with a soccer ball and indoors with his sketchbook and pencils. Already at this young age he impressed people with his drawing skills. Although he never lost his passion for art, at the age of 12 he preferred a career in soccer and that is where he spent most of his youth. Only occasionally he worked on his sketchbook.

The beginning of an art career

This Dutch Master study is LazaR's very first oil painting.

One day in 1993 something happened that would change LazaR's life:

"I was driving home from a soccer game when suddenly I felt the need to make a painting. I don't know where it came from. I didn't know what to paint but I knew that I had to paint something. Before going home I stopped at an art store and bought oil paint and brushes. I had forgotten to buy canvas so I used an old train time table that my father brought home from his work. For my first oil painting I copied a Dutch Master winter landscape from a photo in a book. I don't know how it happened but somehow I was able to paint and create the right colors and shapes. I never had art classes before. The result mirrored the original on the photo. If you flipped the painting around you could see what time the trains leave from Utrecht to Amsterdam.
It felt like coming home from a long trip. I knew that this was something that I really wanted to do."

First art show

Only 3 months after LazaR finished his first painting he entered an art show in Utrecht. He wanted to learn more and meet other artists. One of his paintings was selected as the best painting in the exhibit. It was at this show where fate intervened and he met the celebrated Dutch painter, E. Hezemans. Recognizing LazaR's talent, Hezemans advised him not to attend art school but to further develop his own natural gift. They formed a close bond and Hezemans shared the secrets in the techniques of the Old Dutch Masters with LazaR.
After this first show he received several invitations from galleries in the Netherlands to show his work.

Being an artist

LazaR working on El Nido

Although LazaR utilizes a technique reminiscent of the Dutch Masters he has developed a unique style, which defies a strict classification. He combines the craftsmanship of the Old Dutch Masters with unrestrained imagination. His paintings share a realistic and yet magically and whimsical quality.

"When I just started painting, it hurt me when someone didn't like my work. I was wondering what I could do to make them like it. Probably the most valuable lesson I learned from Hezemans was that you can't make everybody happy with your work. There will always be people who like it and people who don't. That is OK. Always be true to yourself.
Painting is emotion. I must paint what I feel and not what people expect me to paint. I love different styles but create all my paintings with the same intensity, passion and love. I paint with my heart, my hands just follow. Every painting that is sold makes me feel thankful and honored but it also hurts to say goodbye to it."

In the tradition of the Dutch classical masters, his artwork is a visual testament to his passion and talent.

Oil paintings

LazaR is skilled in different artistic media and loves working in pencil and pastel as well but has a predilection for oil painting.
Diane Muñatones wrote about him: "He loves the warmth and strength in colors, the oils seem to take on a fluidity in his hands and he creates something majestic, mystical, and beautiful."

International career

LazaR working in his house in Andalusia, Spain

Soon after LazaR dedicated himself to the arts he received invitations to show his work in international art shows in Europe at Prague, the Czech Republic, Florence, Italy and Barcelona, Spain.
He has traveled throughout Europe, living and painting in the Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy. He wanted to experience the artist life in Paris and stayed in a small studio in Montmartre near the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur. Painting and selling his work at the Place du Tertre where Picasso, Van Gogh and Salvador Dali once lived and painted. LazaR couldn't think of a better place to paint and learn, the area breathes art.

The work of LazaR is published in Europe in art books like "Masters of today" and "Trends" and in the USA in "Best of America".

In 2002, LazaR moved to the United States.
He now lives in Sonoma County, California where he paints in his private studio.