Late 1990s–2000s
At the end of the 1990s Klashorst settled in Africa, living alternately in Senegal, Kenya and the Gambia. He went, he said, as an adventure: he was interested in the people and in traditional African art, and the experience was “a revelation”, with a completely different attitude and atmosphere, and the music and nightlife to match.
In Africa he mainly painted portraits and nudes of local models. He also made many wooden sculptures and painted them, turning them into what he called three-dimensional paintings.
His life there brought him into the news more than once, and from then on his lifestyle often attracted more attention than his painting. The established art world showed little interest in the endless stream of African portraits, but the public did: the works found eager buyers among collectors and art lovers who could now hang a real Klashorst on their wall.
Africa stayed part of his life. In November 2016 the Alliance Française in Banjul showed Van Gogh in the Gambia with Klashorst, organised together with Ngala Lodge, and in 2023 he was again living in the Gambia.
