Niko
Koomen
painter
08-02-1940 - 02-03-2023 †
Explore the enchanting world of painter Niko Koomen, where the beauty of nature merges with the mathematical elegance of the Fibonacci sequence and the principles of Pythagoras. Immerse yourself in a harmonious blend of art and mathematics as Koomen's creations embody natural life through the lens of sacred geometry.
Discover the captivating synergy between art and science on the canvas of Niko Koomen.
Niko successfully completed the art academy in Arnhem and then worked for a long time as a graphic designer. He dedicated his whole life to art. In his early days Niko worked with v.n.l. colored pencil and oil paint. Later he started using more chalk and gouaches and sometimes a combination thereof.
Niko drew his inspiration from the power and beauty of nature. During his long bike rides, he gained inspiration and transformed these impressions and images into abstract works of art. Niko also drew inspiration from science. The sequence of Fibonacci, The Golden Mean and The Pythagorean Theorem appear in his work in various ways.
"I turn a thesis and an anti-thesis into a synthesis"
He loved the art of Mondrian, Malevich, Bart van der Leck and many others. He read countless books from novels to ethereal and spiritual writings. Niko had a profound love for classical music. While painting and drawing, Radio4 was always on and an incense stick was burning. Thus he created the ultimate climate to create his art.
Niko has had several exhibitions in the Netherlands. After his 65th birthday he hardly exhibited at all. He did like it when people showed interest or when they indicated that they appreciated his work and sometimes wanted to buy one.
The golden ratio is a piece of ancient enigmatic mathematics. The golden ratio or "Divina Proportia" (divine proportion) is abbreviated by the Greek letter Φ (pronounced "Fie"). The number denotes a special ratio of line segments: suppose you have two lines of length a and b, they satisfy the golden ratio if the combined length of the lines relates to a in the same way that a relates to b.
The Greek sage Euclid first described the number Φ, but people probably used the golden ratio before that. The ancient Egyptians built their pyramids based on the golden ratio. You can also find Φ in the Parthenon, a temple in honor of the goddess Athena.In the early Middle Ages, Fibonacci figured out the answer to the question of why this ratio is found so often.
The Fibonacci sequence is one of the most famous mathematical number sequences and is named after Leonardo of Pisa. His nickname was Fibonacci and he described the sequence of numbers in his 1202 book Liber abaci. The sequence begins with 0 and 1 and then each subsequent number in the sequence is the sum of the previous two numbers. The sequence then looks like this: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55... etc.
The interesting thing about the Fibonacci sequence is that the numbers appear everywhere in nature, from the structure of sunflower seeds in a sunflower, the arrangement of leaves on branches to the flowers of an artichoke. But the Fibonacci sequence is also found in architecture, such as in the dimensions of the Parthenon and the Pyramids of Giza. The sequence is also linked to the Golden Ratio; divide two consecutive numbers from the Fibonacci sequence and you get the ratio of the Golden Ratio.
'In a right-angled triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the rectangular sides.'
Anotherformulation: a2+ b2= c2
Pythagoras (Samos, c. 570 BC - Metaponto, c. 500 BC) was one of the Presocratic philosophers. Around 540 B.C., he emigrated to Croton, southern Italy, where he was politically engaged and founded a religious-philosophical brotherhood that had some influence on social life. Around 530 B.C., Pythagoras founded a school in Croton, which also established branches in other southern Italian cities.
The original number theory of Pythagoras and his followers was not scientific mathematics, but rather an application, a kind of metaphysics of number; in time, however, in the school of Pythagoras, as in other places in the Greek world, mathematics was also practiced in a scientific manner. Their main contribution lies in the field of number theory, while they practiced geometry in general in an "arithmetic" way and therefore, among other things, did not know how to deal with the problem of irrational roots.
Images based on Pythagoras tiles, Penrose tiles (words of the artist):
Different renderings of a Pythagoras tile. Usually using the 3,4,5 triangle. This tiling is called a "wordless proof" of Pythagoras' theorem. Section shows that the area of the 'shadow square' on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares on the other two sides. It is not really a wordless proof, because you still have to prove that the big squares are really squares and not just rhombuses.
"After all, many opposites evoke unity. A certain numerology and shape symbols also play a role in imaging. They accompany, in a constant dialogue, a fairly long-term process."
His daughter Vanessa Viva Koomen now manages the entire body of work. She wants to share these wonderful works of art with you and she would like to meet interested parties. The art of Niko Koomen is more than an image; each work tells its own story. Each work has a unique message and/or a deeply thoughtful insight.
"In my visual work, I am always looking for unity. I try to approach this unity by structurally using a number of opposites within colour, form and texture."