Rudy Lanjouw

Rudy Lanjouw is a Dutch contemporary artist whose compelling abstract narratives emerge from the richly layered history of the landscape surrounding his studio in Assen, Netherlands. Drawing inspiration from the deep peat soils—once inaccessible military terrain that holds traces of Roman occupation and World War II—Lanjouw’s work explores the way memory and history are embedded in place.

His signature visual language is instantly recognizable: vivid yellows dominate tightly composed canvases, anchored by stark black borders and traversed by red, black, and blue linear forms. These gestural lines often resemble pathways or maps, evoking both literal and psychological journeys.

Lanjouw’s practice is rooted in excavation—of land, of story, of form—making his work both archival and intensely present. With a strong graphic sensibility and a conceptual depth grounded in site and memory, Rudy Lanjouw is a name to watch on the European art scene.