Artist:		Ralph Douglas
Technique:		oilpaint
Date of exhibition:		May 6 - June 11, 2000

The delicate art of Ralph Douglas,
a real must for the connoisseur

In 1963 the then nine years old Ralph Douglas came from Virginia to the Netherlands. The big crossing constituted an equally big culture-shock. The corresponding feelings of alienation have never really left him, but in the world of art he found a new homeland. In 1973 he attended the Academy of Art in Den Bosch, where he was "taught an attitude, but not a craft". In this drily homorous remark speaks a critical spirit that is not easily satisfied.

To think of time, 1997, o/p, 90x130 cm.

The way that Ralph paints testifies to this. A painting of his may look perfect and smooth, but has by no means come out of the blue. Many of his paintings do not pass the test of his own merciless criticism. Of 10 works he makes, on average only one passes the finishing line. A yearly production of 5 paintings can thus truely be called a bountiful harvest.

And even if such a work does pass the finishing line, the specator hasn’t a clue as to what battle took place during its creation; how many figures appeared and disappeared, whole parts having been completely erased or dissolved in white spirit. And all this for the single purpose of creating a perfect metaphor for what the painter had in mind. For although Ralph Douglas paints very realistically, he certainly doesn’t portray daily reality. He is a man of ideas and thoughts, searching for something essential ­ something that captures the transience of our existence. He re-creates the world in order to express it.

Thus his work is not without seriousness. In spite of that, the observant spectator will in many cases not be able to suppress a silent smile, as often a subtle, ironic chord is struck. In a country where vulgarity is rife, it’s not easy to make oneself heard with such subleties. Nevertheless Ralph Douglas refuses to budge, and has done so for the last 25 years.

Museum Møhlmann is proud to present about 30 works that in the last 10 years passed the finishing line and that express the intriguing world of this painter.

It’s art that’s truely significant.