Michael Poort

It became clear at an early age that MichFl Poort (Hilversum, 1960) excelled in creativity. He therefore spent most of his school years drawing. His studies took a back seat, if not last place. A mild form of dyslexia, which was partly responsible for his aversion to textbooks, led to the strong development of his imagination and visual skills. After high school, he naturally chose to attend the art academy in Utrecht.

Early in his career, he focused primarily on creating sports drawings. MichFl is an avid athlete himself. He translates the dynamism of sports into his art. By the 1990s, he was known as one of the greatest artists in this field.

After a few years, however, the artist felt he had reached a dead end. Drawing with colored pencils and pastels began to bore him. A new period followed, full of experimentation and the search for new challenges. Eventually, he found fulfillment in a more expressionistic style of painting. He was drawn to the intense colors of acrylic paints and discovered that he could better express his feelings with a brush.

After a few transitional stylistic periods, MichFl developed an entirely new style around the turn of the century, characterized by even greater freedom and spontaneity. He now also works on large canvases. He himself calls this his “heart period.” From this point on, the painter developed a new artistic signature that is unmistakably evident in his landscapes and tulip series, in which he lets the paint speak for itself.