Jade van der Mark
Untitled
Oil on canvas
110 × 80 cm (h × w)
A pair of shoes. A shopping bag. A table laid with more than anyone could need. In Jade van der Mark’s paintings, familiar objects carry the weight of our expectations. They promise pleasure, belonging and the possibility of another life. Around them, people wait, watch and search for something less easily named.
Two works now available through Vroom & Varossieau Art Advisory bring these questions into focus. Untitled takes us into the luxury halls of Harrods, London. Table for Two turns towards the intimate territory of family and memory. Together, they reveal an enduring concern in Van der Mark’s practice: the distance between what appears abundant and what we feel is missing.
We are delighted to offer both paintings directly from her London studio. With her other works currently sold out, this is a rare opportunity to acquire an original painting at a compelling moment in her developing international practice.
Born in Bergen, the Netherlands, in 1990, Van der Mark studied Textiles & Fashion at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. That background remains visible in her attention to clothing, texture and the social meanings carried by appearances. A garment can suggest aspiration. An accessory can become a declaration of identity. A small gesture can reveal uncertainty beneath a carefully composed exterior.
Her layered oil surfaces give these observations a physical presence. Figures emerge through accumulated paint, carrying traces of revision and changing narratives. Their surroundings may be crowded and colourful, yet the emotional atmosphere often holds a quieter tension.
Van der Mark’s view of society is searching and compassionate. She questions the influence of consumption, status and digital culture on our relationships with ourselves and others. Her paintings invite us to consider how much of what we desire has been shaped for us, and how easily attention can move away from the person towards the image they present.
Faith provides a personal foundation for her work. She has described painting as a spiritual expression that brings her closer to God, and human connection as a form of wealth. Her concern with ego, power and division grows from this belief in the value of looking beyond appearances. Beneath the spectacle of contemporary life, she continues to seek something honest and shared.
Jade van der Mark
Untitled
Oil on canvas
110 × 80 cm (h × w)
In Untitled, Harrods becomes a stage on which the rituals of desire unfold. Shoes and shopping bags surround two women, creating a world of colour, texture and possibility. Their faces, however, resist the easy promise of satisfaction.
The painting asks what we are really looking for when we enter these spaces. An object may carry the hope of transformation, recognition or belonging. For a moment, something outside ourselves appears capable of answering an inward longing.
Van der Mark observes this exchange with sensitivity to its human vulnerability. The desire to possess is bound to the desire to become, and to be seen.
Provenance: Direct from the artist’s studio, London.
Jade van der Mark
Table for Two
Oil on canvas
190 × 205 cm (h × w)
A very different kind of abundance fills Table for Two. Fruit, flowers, food and objects gather across the canvas, offering the appearance of warmth and togetherness.
The work begins with Van der Mark’s relationship with her mother. Beneath its generous surface lives the memory of feeling invisible, and the longing for recognition and love. What should offer nourishment also holds absence.
The crowded table becomes a place where closeness is both promised and withheld. Its beauty does not resolve that tension. Instead, the painting allows warmth, shadow and longing to remain together, giving form to feelings that can be difficult to speak aloud.
Provenance: Direct from the artist’s studio, London.
Across these two works, Van der Mark moves from public desire to private memory. The settings change, but the underlying question remains: what does it take to feel that we have truly been seen?
Read our interview with Jade van der Mark for more about her motivations, her experiences in London and Paris, and the ideas shaping her practice.
Enquire now about Untitled or Table for Two.
