Visiting Los Angeles Harbor Arts main Gallery during October’s First Thursday ArtWalk, we were met with a beautiful collection of abstract figurative paintings by Wim van Aken. The works feature lush pigmentation, scenes depicting figures gathering, reclining, in conversation, or taking part in quotidian activities. Often dubbed the classicist of his time, van Aken was a prolific artist in the Netherlands who was inspired significantly by Greek and Roman antiquity.
Wim van Aken’s work spans decades and includes scenic, watercolor, and polychromatic oil paintings that could have easily been inspired by the Bay Area figurative movement of the 1950s and 60s. But his colorful, loose painting style evolved past academia into inquisitive pieces reflective of interpretive nuance.
The compositions are striking and curious. van Aken was highly skilled at drawing by the age of 13, which is evident from a still life, which we saw in a book about the artist: a heavy rustic curtain with a vase and an incense-burning pot. His works are made up of many, many layers of paint, and representational aspects are clear but abstracted, often featuring people with no defining features. Some forms intermingle with their surroundings, or their surroundings, which are often architectural and elegant, blend into or reflect the figures.
In an intriguing conversation between form and color, the works draw you in, reflecting familiar regions. Indeed, much of his work draws upon his travels in Europe, particularly Italy, where he liked to go to escape the dreariness of the Netherlands. While he loved Italy and especially Rome, van Aken’s nephew, who brought the paintings to LAHA, told RLN that he also painted and drew Dutch scenery from Holland. For a time, the painter lived in Naarden in the Netherlands, where the homes featured iconic roofs made of dried reed. He depicted one of those homes in a painting. That work was purchased by a couple from Los Angeles, and sadly, it burned in the 2025 fires.
While much of his collection is now in Los Angeles, this is a very special exhibition for two reasons. This is an important show for LA Harbor Arts, as van Aken’s work has never before been exhibited in America. Secondly, when contemporary Dutch art or painting appears in Los Angeles, it’s typically handled through international art fairs (such as Frieze Los Angeles) or shipped from artists based in Europe rather than sourced from local Dutch painters. LA is without an active, geographic enclave of working Dutch painters. Instead, the connection relies heavily on global art infrastructure.
This is a rare and perfect opportunity to view a masterful, postwar Dutch painter in a local, contemporary art gallery.
The exhibition will be up through Dec.12 and is available to view either on the dates below or by appointment.
Time: 1 to 4 p.m., opening reception, Nov. 14. Additional viewings during the Second Saturday Art Walk of Nov. 14 and Dec. 12. The gallery is also open on First Thursdays now through December, 6 to 9 p.m.
Details: To schedule a private viewing, contact LAharborarts@gmail.com
Venue: LAHA, 401 S. Mesa St., San Pedro