Maarten Platje was born in 1964 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and studied at the Ars Aemula Naturae Art Academy in Leiden. 

After his studies Platje spent part of his youth as a sailor before devoting himself to painting ships. This period certainly contributed to his ability to transform his impressions and observations into highly accurate and lively marine paintings.

During the early eighties, Platje developed a strong preference for maritime and aviation art. Since the nineties, he has mainly focused on maritime topics. By carefully investigating all of his painted subjects, he is able to depict historic topics with a stunning level of detail.

Maarten Platje’s marine paintings are carefully-orchestrated compositions created from an assembly of several old pictures, old drawings and ship models discovered at antique stores or placed at his disposal from private collections.

Maarten Platje