Jos Coufreur Portraits

As we continue to look at some contemporary artists who like to paint portraits, today we are going to explore some of the works being created by Western Australian artist Jos Coufreur. We met Jos before when we were looking at boab trees which are very beautiful. Jos' portraits of people are equally alluring.

Jos Coufreur uses a unique style that fuses realism with expressive abstraction...(his) work can be identified by its use of gestural strokes, bold colour combinations and a careful balance of recognisable subject and abstraction. ²

Here are three more stars from the movie and music world - equally notable and equally beautiful as Marilyn - in their own way.

Jos' early works have been described as "Romantic Realism" due to the inclusion of looser strokes and emotive qualities. ... (he) paints with a unique style that fuses realism with expressive abstraction. His paintings feature energetic gestural strokes and bold colour combinations. ²

Jos Coufreur is a professional, award winning artist and has been painting and drawing from a very early age. Jos and his wife live and work in Mandurah (on the southwest coast of Western Australia). Jos grew up in the Wollongong area (New South Wales) and moved to the Netherlands when he was 17. Jos and his wife spent 26 years in New Zealand and after their 4 children moved to Perth they decided to follow to Western Australia.

Since leaving art school in Holland Jos has been on a long journey of discovery as an artist. With several years of employment inbetween Jos has been a fulltime artist for over 25 years. Jos loves painting spontaneously to let the colours form the picture. His works are in large format to allow him free movement and expression.

His subject matter ranges from famous iconic people, and animal portraits, to city and landscapes.¹

These portraits are brought alive with colour which leaps out at the viewer, captures your attention and entices you back into exploring the topography of the face.

Coufreur's recent works push the foundations of his practise to an increasingly loose and bold style, injecting dynamism and energy to his subject matter with the use of scraping, layering and blurring. Recent works tackle larger canvases which enable the abstracted regions to take centre stage. Painting in acrylic enables Coufreur to work quickly, preventing drying time from interrupting the flow of the composition. Working standing, he has been known to work for hours on end without breaks to capture the subject matter with spontaneity and bold energy- one can certainly feel the artist's physical exertion when standing in front of one of these large canvases. ²

Jos Coufreur's Einstein(above) has a wisdom about him. Jos has in fact created a series of wisdom portraits which are remarkable and showcase the mastery of line, shape and colour to portray the inner character of his subjects.

These wisdom portraits feature the faces of Australian Indigenous men who have the wisdom of thousands of years of history and knowledge etched into their faces and souls.

Please take time to examine these remarkable works - for the honesty and directiveness of technique and message.

Check out his website by Clicking Here.

And perhaps you live in Western Australia and would like your portrait painted. Jos does do commission work.

Tomorrow Julie is going to introduce you to another artist who uses vibrant colours to recreate the natural world and the creatures of such places as the Great Barrier Reef and rainforest country.

Jos Coufreur Portraits

Anne Newman

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