Michael den Hertog

Vancouver, BC

I was born in Montreal to Dutch parents in 1951, but have lived in Vancouver most of my life. Having pursued painting as a serious hobby since I was a child, in 1996 I left a career in business in order to devote my full energies to my art.

Although I consider myself largely self-taught, I have taken a few individual courses over the years with painters whose work I admired; Ranjan Sen at the University of British Columbia, James Lindfield at Emily Carr, Don Farrell at the Federation of Canadian Artists, and John MacDonald at the former Vancouver Academy of Art.

I went on to teach courses in painting and creative process at the Federation of Canadian Artists and run my own gallery in an open studio environment on Granville Island in Vancouver from 2001 to 2007.

Having painted more representationally for a big part of my life, I now enjoy working in abstraction, pursuing a winding path of sweeping revisions toward an often unforeseen outcome. Evidence of numerous edits are left peeking through subsequent layers, inviting examination at close range.

Incorporating a wide variety of techniques, and with grateful acknowledgement of many influences, I strive to cultivate a visual language that is distinctly my own. I continue to risk everything in the making of my art, reaffirming my belief in what is possible, rather than what is known.

My work has been exhibited at a number of galleries and is widely held in private and corporate collections in 13 countries on five continents.