Books: The Surreal Art of Robert Vanderhorst

This spring, painter Robert Vanderhorst will be publishing a comprehensive collection of his surreal paintings in The Paintings of Robert Willem Vanderhorst. The book will feature twenty-six of Vanderhorst's oil paintings, as well as an introduction and an original short story by Night of the Living Dead directory George A. Romero. Romero's story was inspired by the Vanderhorst painting The Yacht Club, and will also be published in three installments on Vanderhorst's website, www.twoartists.ca, over the next few weeks. The announcement of the final publication date for The Paintings of Robert Willem Vanderhorst will also be announced at www.twoartists.ca.

Robert Vanderhorst's The Yacht Club


George A. Romero (left) and Robert W. Vanderhorst (right)

Robert Willem Vanderhorst is a self-taught artist with a talent inherited from his father and a technique born of a strong Dutch tradition in art. Emigrating from Holland to Canada in 1951, he now lives in Toronto, Canada. In 1979, he began publishing limited editions of his images under Vanderhorst Graphics. In 1973, he held his first solo exhibition. Over the next three and a half decades, Vanderhorst's imagery has been used in many diverse ways, including in music videos, television programs, live stage productions and record jacket designs, as well as illustrations in psychology journals and aviation book covers. His paintings have been featured in almost thirty exhibitions, culminating in two major retrospectives at the St. Lawrence Hall, Toronto in 2004 and 2005. Vanderhorst's work has also been featured and explored in two DVDs titled View from the Gallery 1 and View from the Gallery 2.

George A. Romero, the celebrated directory of Night of the Living Dead and its sequels, met Robert Vanderhorst at the 2005 retrospective in Toronto while filming Land of the Dead. Impressed with Vanderhorst's talent and fascinating imagery, he struck up a friendship with the painter that has led to his contribution of not only an introduction, but an original short story, to The Paintings of Robert Willem Vanderhorst.

Check out Robert's site at http://www.twoartists.ca/ to see his paintings and keep up with news about the book.