Quintus Jan Telting, 'The Chess player', 1973.
Quintus Jan Telting, 'The Chess player', 1973. In a dark room, four people are playing chess. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Black people
Telting lived in New York for a long time, but from 1970 onwards he was mainly in Amsterdam. Both places influenced his development as an artist, as did his country of origin, Suriname. He learned painting from his father, Govert Jan Telting, who was himself an artist. Quintus began his career as a portrait painter, but his travels influenced and changed his visual language, which can be clearly seen from the work shown here. His artistic style was versatile: from expressive to graphic. Black people were almost always the protagonists in his work.