Theo Otté’s work

Theo Otté followed courses of drawing and watercolor at the municipal academy in Hove and also participated in several courses and workshops in Belgium, France and Italy.

For several years he has been active in the class of Gerda Mentens (Balen), resulting in a free style and an original color palette.

With aquarel technique the substrate and the white paper plays an essential role as the watercolor is not covered, but transparently applied to the paper.

For the lightest batches of the image, unpainted parts of the paper are used to suggest the impression of translucent light.

Aquarellering is a direct and spontaneous way of “painting”. Each trait must be correct, because overcoating or correction does not work. The realization process, from pencil sketch to final result, remains visible and readable to the viewer.

Aquarel is therefore ideal for displaying impressions and atmospheric scenes, rather suggestive and searching for the atmosphere than descriptive.

For Theo Otté, every subject is challenging to be presented: travel impressions of landscapes and cities, watching and walking in the local area of Hoboken and Antwerpen, buildings, street views or the cozy interior of a café. They are a grateful source of inspiration to get creative with water and paint.

His watercolors do not aim for a photographic representation of the subject, but a personal and polite interpretation of visual reality.

Florent Bex
Honorary Founding Director M HKA
Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerpen