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Born in the Netherlands in 1957 into an artistic family, his interests in art, theater and communications led him to found an Amsterdam-based performing arts center; organize the European art collective “Hart Poetry;” and become founding editor of “Sponsoring;” a business and arts magazine. For a number of years he headed Leestemaker & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in the arts.

Upon moving to the US in 1990, Leestemaker committed himself to painting full time, following in the footsteps of other European and Dutch artists, notably Willem de Kooning and Mondrian, for whom living and working in the US inspired a dramatic creative transition. His stylistic journey led from early influences by the CoBrA movement, through densely abstract expressionist compositions, to the Inner Landscape and Transfiguration series, inspired both by Mark Rothko and 17th and 18th Century Dutch and English landscape painters including Constable, Ruysdael and Van Goyen.

Today Leestemaker’s paintings are exhibited throughout the US and internationally, increasingly becoming a part of major corporate and private collections. Two retrospective museum exhibitions were held in 2004 (Bakersfield Museum of Art, in California, and the West Valley Art Museum in Arizona). A number of his paintings will be included in an upcoming show at the Riverside Museum in California, in August 2005. Galerie d’Orsay, Boston MA, scheduled a large retrospective exhibition for the artist in July 2005. The documentary “Swimming Through The Clouds” about the artist’s life and work, was screened at a number of Film Festivals around the world and broadcast by Link TV, a culture and arts satellite network.

In 2004 his second book, Luc Leestemaker; Paintings, was published by SWC Editions and is available nationwide at bookstores and on line. The artist collaborated with famed jazz composer and musician Charlie Haden and created the artwork for Haden’s 2005 Grammy Award-winning CD Land of the Sun.

His collaboration with Hollywood’s film Industry has showcased his work in a number of film and television projects, amongst them, “Spiderman,” “Bringing Down the House,” “Erin Brockovitch,” “Simone,” and “Shopgirl.”

Becoming a US citizen in 2003, the artist lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

 

 

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