About My Art Journey
Emotion and beauty form the essence of my work — with paint, I write stories in light and shadow. It is my passion, my craft, my language.
Walter Kruf is a Dutch painter who has devoted himself to the art of oil painting, focusing on three classical genres: portraiture, the human figure and the landscape. Working under the artistic name Waltherus, his work is recognised for its painterly realism and its subtle balance between light and dark — a contemporary continuation of the chiaroscuro tradition.
From a young age, Walter has been drawn to drawing and colour. His creative journey began with pencils and airbrush experiments, later deepened through figurative studies during his student years in Delft. Since 2006, he has dedicated himself fully to oil painting, refining his technique through mentorships with renowned artists such as Kees Warmoeskerken and Marco Krauwinkel.
Inspired by the Old Masters, Walter explores how light can reveal emotion and how shadow can create mystery. His paintings aim to capture not just likeness, but presence: the quiet poetry of human experience, the serenity of landscapes, and the interplay between realism and imagination. Through oil paint, he seeks to express what cannot easily be said. Each work becomes an exploration of feeling and form — an attempt to touch the timeless through colour, gesture, and light.
