Rogier Willems

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A self taught painter Rogier possesses an unconventional stance towards the conventional art scene. He rarely participates in exhibitions and has an innate resistance to commission based work. Instead Rogier often invites individuals he holds in high regard sitting for him, or those he finds have a kind of magnetism, being drawn to the complexity and duality inherent within such individuals.

Although Rogier recently won the William Lock Prize in the 2025 Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual Mall Galleries exhibition, and has twice been long listed for the BP Award at the National Portrait Gallery, his motivations for creating art are on the whole not driven by accolades or public recognition. Rather he finds himself more engaged in the process of developing his own practice.

The act of painting for Rogier, is synonymous with liberation- process that offers boundless freedom and a platform to articulate his thoughts and emotions and emotions. He cherishes this personal exploration and chooses to maintain a sense of privacy around it, an approach that mirrors his personality and resonates with his artistic principles.

Born in Dordrecht 1969, raised and still lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Self taught painter. Worked for 25 years as a set designer for numerous theatre companies. For many years he worked as an art teacher at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and at Amsterdam the Wackers Academy in Amsterdam. Used to work in series with specific themes concerning politics and religion. Now he focuses on portraiture and painting from the nude figure, without further narrative context.

He lives and works near Amsterdam with his girlfriend and two young daughters. In his spacious studio he paints and teaches with the help of Pieternel Linssen, as well as regularly teaching in the UK, Belgium, France and Portugal.