In 2005, at the age of 46, Ton decided to follow his dream. As a partner in a successful insurance company, he left the company and said “I’m going to be an artist”. Everyone thought he had gone crazy, only his wife said “follow your dream” and that was enough for Ton. Ton also said “I’d rather it failed than not try”.
As mentioned in the bio, Ton did not attend an art academy, but is self-taught. In fact, as a child he was already fanatically busy drawing and coloring his fantasies, but his artistic creations were not appreciated at school. How special that his work is now highly appreciated, enjoyed and embraced by collectors and even museums.
People try to name his style and often end up with the well-known COBRA art style, by famous artists such as Karel Appel and Corneille. Erik Hermida, an influential man in the world of art, calls Ton a “new exponent of COBRA”. A major Dutch collector -Gerard Meulensteen- calls Ton his work “COBRA of the 21st century and a major Slovak collector –Ivan Melichercik- samples Ton his work as “New COBRA”. Ton himself says always “I am a realistic artist, but from another reality” and I just follow my “Pret Style”.
Ton quickly became well-known in the world of art and his work was exhibited in the famous Amsterdam Beurs van Berlage, the Fortezza da Basso in Florence, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Louvre in Paris, the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, the Triennale di Milano Design Museum, the Super Studio of the Milan Design Week, the Moscow Design Week, the Shenzhen Design Week, the Amsterdam Museum of Bags and Purses, the Dutch Shoe Museum in Waalwijk, the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague and in 2025 a great exhibition in the wonderful Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Not only art lovers appreciate his work, but also big names from the design world are fans of his designs. Such as the famous Italian designers and architects Alessandro Mendini (RIP) and Alessandro Guerriero, both well known from the world-famous Studio Alchimia. Alessandro Guerriero has become a dear friend, with whom Ton collaborates now and in future. In addition to the paintings and design, Ton has also transformed everyday objects into works of art. A small list: high heels for the Paris catwalk, All Stars sneakers, Louis Vuitton art bag, Michael Kors art bag, shoes for Jonnie Boer 3 Michelin stars chef De Librije, Greve shoes, Van den Assem bags and shoes, art edition bicycles, skate boards, Nike art balls, jeans, vases, sunglasses, bathtubs, tables, chairs, watches, a Fendor Stratocaster guitar for the famous French artist Jean Pierre Danel and much more.
Also a very special work of art created by Ton, is the famous “Ton Pret Ferrari Art Car”. Commissioned by a collector, Ton hand-painted a Ferrari 355 GTS (no wrapping) and transformed it into the fastest work of art in the Netherlands and this art car is now driving around in New York. The famous Ferrari magazine “Cavallino Magazine” wrote a 25-page article about Ton's art and the Ferrari, in which they also placed this car among Art Cars of celebrities such as Andy Warhol and Keith Haring.
Ton's work has been featured in many other publications such as: the Financieel Dagblad, the Algemeen Dagblad, the Holland Herald KLM, The National, the largest English newspaper in the United Arabic Emirates/Abu Dhabi/Dubai, various foreign art books, various Dutch newspapers, J en T Magazine De Librije, Qualis magazine, Runway Magazine Paris, TAGS magazine Italy, Vedere Magazine, Landlife magazine, Gulf Magazine, FFDesigner Magazine, AM magazine, Churn Magazine USA, Pravda Magazine and newspaper, Zorana Creative Room 4 talk, Haagse Kunstkalender and many more.
Ton only makes art that he likes himself and hopes that the people will like it too, but you can't please everyone. An important quote from him is: "if I had to make a painting that everyone likes, I wouldn't be able to make one painting, but if I had to make a painting that I like, I can make millions".
Ton Pret is a Dutch self-taught artist, who does not follow the masses and is not guided by styles or trends, but simply follows his own course and this results in his colorful and unique style: The Pret Style! Ton translates the reality of everyday life into the reality of his inexhaustible imagination and does this with great passion, which you can feel by seeing.
Ton also believes that his art should be accessible and understandable to everyone, whereby it should stimulate people's imagination. Everyone can and may see something different in it. In this way, both light-hearted subjects and heavy subjects are translated into something that everyone can understand.
Ton does not limit himself to just paintings, but has also transformed various special objects by hand into art objects, such as the Ton Pret Ferrari Art Car that is now driving around in New York, but also various art shoes and bags, such as the Louis Vuitton art bag and also design, which was even on display during the Milan Design Week and in the Triennale di Milano Design Museum.
Ton's work has also been on display in various other museums such as the Louvre, Museum de Kunsthal, the Dutch Shoe Museum and in 2025 a major exhibition will be added to the Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum in Bratislava (SK). But there is a lot more to explore about Ton Pret.
