Van Soest Collection

The Van Soest Collection consists of over 600 paintings, 50 sculptures, and about 500 prints and drawings. In all, they represent the work of over 70 painters from Europe and the United States. The common element in this rich collection is the style: Fantastic Realism.

Central to all these works is a realistic representation, but in each case this is combined with fantastical motifs from mythology, religion, and the world of our dreams and desires - an infinite wealth of visual images coupled with superior artistic technique.

Major artists

The collection includes paintings by such major artists as Zdzisłav Beksiński, Andre Martins de Barros, Giorgio de Chirico, Ernst Fuchs, Hans Ruedi Giger, Andrew Gonzales, Igor Grechanyk, Peter Gric, Michaël Hiep, Philip Rubinov Jacobson, Johfra, Oleg Korolev, Joop Moesman, Viktor Safonkin, Herman Smorenburg, Robert Venosa and René Zwaga.

Rardy van Soest

Rardy van Soest (b. 1947) began his collection in about 1990 with the purchase of paintings by Johfra. Fascinated by his surrealist realism and curious to see other interpretations, he began to look for other artists — painters, sculptors, and graphic artists — both at home and abroad, seeking them out in their studios, developing friendships, inspiring them through debate and discussion, and buying their works.

Available for exhibitions

The catalogue of the Van Soest Collection can be requested at Guus&Erik. From the collection several concepts of exhibitions can be drawn. Feel free to contact us for more information.

Image: Detail of The Warriors of the Apocalypse by Viktor Safonkin