Ari Stolk - Beautiful realistic gouache - "Pigeon in landscape" - signed - 1987 - Sold

• Ari Stolk (Rotterdam, January 31, 1934 – Rhoon, July 12, 2017) was a Dutch painter and draftsman. An important theme in his work is nature and birds. He is considered one of the Independent Realists.
• Ari Stolk started as an illustrator in the advertising industry at the age of 18 and made drawings for teaching materials for the NTI in Breda. Later he also made greeting cards and calendars independently. His love for birds made him known as an illustrator for books such as 'Vogels Natuurlijk' and 'Vogels Kijken' and for the magazines 'De Lepelaar' and 'Vogels' of the Dutch Bird Protection Society.
  

He used different styles and materials: he first worked mainly with gouache, and later with oil paint, but he also made watercolours and pen drawings. As a cartoonist he won prizes in Russia (at Kartoenale), Japan (1983)[2] and Italy. He was allowed to make politically tinged cartoons for the daily newspaper Het Vrije Volk, among others. After 30 years he switched to another style and became a free visual artist, which he stopped in 2010 due to health problems. He gained a lot of inspiration during his travels to nature reserves. He was active within the Artists for Nature Foundation