Outsider Art & Art Brut — the work of Norbert de Jong
Norbert de Jong is a self-taught Amsterdam artist who has been creating his own visual world since 1993. Without any art education, purely from within — the essence of what is called Outsider Art (Art Brut).
Norbert de Jong’s universe is inhabited by many wondrous creatures. From “Birds of Paradise” and “The dancing women” to a psychedelic work like “The lost phoenix” — he mainly paints cheerful, joyful scenes. “I want to depict something beautiful, something powerful, something that other people can enjoy too.”
A core theme is freedom. “Birds represent freedom to me. For a long time I painted cyclists — that also has to do with freedom.” De Jong works in his own studio, without commissions and without a fixed formula: “I want to hold the reins of my own life.”
His work emerges spontaneously, without a preconceived plan. “I make something without having a plan beforehand. Then something comes into being.” He looks at other artists — Picasso in particular — but always forms his own style within that. De Jong describes his own work as naïve, expressionist and outsider: “outsider, because I have no training. My work doesn’t fit into a box; it’s not what you see every day. It’s strange, peculiar work.”
De Jong started painting in 1992, when he was advised to take up creative therapy during a hospital stay. Recognition soon followed: the Amsterdam art lending library selected twenty works at once. “That’s when I thought: maybe I do have talent after all.” Painting gives him calm, pride and confidence: “Deep down I’m quite melancholic, but in my work it always turns cheerful. I try to give a kind of signal that things will brighten up.”
Buy original work
All paintings and mixed-media works by Norbert de Jong are originals — unique, signed and available directly from the artist. Browse a selection below, visit the full portfolio or get in touch.
