The New Master; Sander van Laar

‘The digital florist that will never let his flowers wilt again’

Everyone loves a beautiful bouquet, don't they? Sander van Laar (43) brings colourful peace into the home with bouquets that don't perish. With his digital camera and Photoshop photo editing, he follows in the footsteps of the old Dutch Masters in a contemporary way. Van Laar likes to be inspired by paintings by the likes of Rembrandt, van Heemst and Johannes Vermeer. ‘As a child, I was fascinated by these. I copied their works and years later I started to study their methods. I find the use of light and the composition of details the most beautiful aspects of their work. By studying this, you can learn a lot from the Old Masters.’ In 2016, van Laar photographed his first floral still life. ‘I went to my local florist and had a bouquet composed in the colours of 'The Girl with the Pearl Earring', Vermeer's most popular work. I wanted to create a still life inspired by this work.’

Modern techniques

These days, the professional photographer is called the New Master of floral still life. Although he opts for modern techniques, his working methods hardly differ from the Old Masters, such as Balthasar van der Ast (1593-1657). Van der Ast painted highly refined still lifes of flowers and fruit. His compositions and use of colour were carefully balanced. ‘Van der Ast did not paint all the flowers at once. He painted them flower by flower, as some flowers were seasonal and sometimes wilted before his eyes’ explains van Laar. ‘In our time, we have Photoshop with which we can actually do the same as the Old Masters. Like them, I can spend days creating a beautiful still life.’

Ambitions and dreams

Flowers in all scents and especially colours play an important role in the life of the professional photographer from Veen. The works of art by the best digital florist, still-life photographer have now found their way into many Dutch homes. And not only Dutch people appreciate his work. ‘There are works of mine hanging in Indonesian, American, German and Belgian galleries. My dream?’ - Sander is ambitious and dreams big – ‘That my still lifes will be hanging in galleries in New York within a few years!’ he says, smiling broadly. Sander paints still lifes with light. Nothing is what it seems in Sander's dreamy floral artworks and still lifes.