September 2017 – December 2018

Visions of St. John the Divine

The series ‘Visions of St. John the Divine’ is inspired by passages of the Revelations from the Bible. In this series he tries to blend together his imagination and passages from the Revelations while keeping  some freedom of interpretation for the viewer. Every painting is inspired by different passages of the Revelation.

The apostle Saint John was banned to the island Patmos (Greece) where his spirit was touched by the Spirit of God to write down the Revelations. St. John dictated his visions to his pupil Prochoros who wrote down the visions. The pictures are seen through the eyes of Prochoros, who was the spectator of St. John and his visions. 

The Revelations remain a mystery as the texts are very hard to fathom. Van de Graaf interprets the Revelations as a comment on modern society and a warning towards the fragility of the earth and mankind.

During his gallery research trip to New York in 2017 he visited the ‘Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine’  in New York City (Amsterdam Avenue at 112th street). Because he feels such a strong connection and inspiration with St. John the Divine and the Revelations he decided to dedicate at least three series on this theme.