What’s in a name? (updated in 2026)
Art and Luxury in Noordwijk: What Gives an Original Artwork Its Value?
Luxury is often associated with refinement, exclusivity and beautiful objects. For me, it begins somewhere else.
In February 2025, I presented my work at the Art & Luxury Fair at Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin in Noordwijk. Surrounded by art, design and craftsmanship, one question stayed with me: what do we really mean when we call something luxurious?
01 · Rethinking luxury
The Art & Luxury Fair at Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin
The Art & Luxury Fair brought contemporary art, fashion, design and craftsmanship together at Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin in Noordwijk.
“For me, making art is a form of luxury. Not because the process is always comfortable or polished, but because it allows me to follow what cannot yet be fully explained.”
Leonoor Ruigrok
That personal encounter matters. A painting may first attract someone through colour, movement or atmosphere. But its meaning often changes when you hear where it began, how it developed and why certain elements kept returning.
02 · Traces of the Process
The Value of Original Art: More Than an Object
An original painting carries traces of decisions, doubt, movement and time. Some marks are deliberate. Others emerge while I am working and lead the painting in an unexpected direction. It does not have to reveal everything at once.
The luxury of time, attention and freedom
The word luxury can suggest perfection. Yet perfection is not what I seek in my paintings. A rough line may hold more energy than a carefully controlled one. A partly hidden figure may feel more powerful than a fully explained image. A dark edge can make the light around it more intense.
Creating art gives me the freedom to stay with these contrasts. That freedom is valuable, but it also requires time, concentration and trust in the process. Perhaps that is where art and luxury truly meet: in giving something enough attention to become more than was initially planned.
From an Art Exhibition in Noordwijk to the Studio in Voorhout
In my studio in Voorhout, close to Noordwijk, paintings can be seen in the surroundings where they were made. Visitors can look at individual works, discover connections between different series and experience their scale, surface and presence without the distance of a screen. You are welcome to arrange a studio visit and see the work in person.
Archive · 2025
Art & Luxury Fair, Noordwijk
This article was originally published as an announcement of Leonoor Ruigrok’s participation in the Art & Luxury Fair and was later expanded with reflections on art, value and the experience of living with an original artwork.
Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin
Koningin Astrid Boulevard 5
2202 BK Noordwijk
8–9 February 2025