Francien Krieg - A borrowed weight

I am Francien Krieg, a Dutch figurative painter. For more than 25 years, the human body has been central to my work. I studied at the Royal Academy of Visual Arts in The Hague and further developed my painting at the Vrije Academie. My work is exhibited internationally and has been selected for the Figurativas competition at MEAM in Barcelona. In 2023 I won second place in Painting of the Year. Recently I was among the 25 finalists for Artist of the Year 2027. For years I mainly painted older women in my series Precious Bodies, about which a book appeared in 2018. These paintings deal with aging, visibility, and the limited beauty ideals through which we look at bodies. I am drawn to the traces of a lived life: changing skin, a characteristic posture, the presence of someone who is more than their appearance. In recent years I have also looked at young men and the uncertainty of puberty. In portraits, figures in water, boxers, and boys with parts of armor I explore the tension between vulnerability and the expectation to be strong. Protection can offer safety, but it can also become a weight you carry with you. Although the ages of my models vary, the questions remain connected. What does a body reveal? What are we trying to hide? How much space do we give each other to change, to grow older, or to not know for a moment? The works in this two-person sale arise from those questions. I seek beauty in which discomfort and imperfection may also exist. In moments when a look or a gesture allows something to be felt that words fail to express."

Estimate:$3,361.32

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