My friends! I’m coming to Boston and New York in April. 🇺🇸 If I did a little book event for “Stupid Faces in Stunning Paintings… would you come? 👀 (asking for a friend)
🔎 Coming in February: a brand new Gaze documentary diving VERY DEEP into one of the most detailed paintings in art history. We’ll zoom into tiny hairs, beautiful faces and yes… drooling horses. It’s the video I’ve always wanted to make about my favorite artwork ever. Can you recognize the painting from the details? 👀
I try not to chase numbers, because there’s always another. A desire for 1,000 followers becomes a craving for 10,000. Reaching 10,000 creates a monster called 100,000. Or to paraphrase the great John Green: there isn’t a number in the world that can fill the hole in your soul.
Be that as it may: I HAVE A SILVER F*CKING PLAY BUTTON SAY WHAAAT!?
Sorry.
You see, back in 2019, The Gaze was born on YouTube. An obvious choice, because it was my favourite place to hang out online. And even though today I have a greater following on other platforms, YouTube is still my favourite. By far.
Getting more views and subscribers over time felt good. I mean, it’s thrilling. But nothing beats the thrill of uploading a new video. A new story to tell. So I kept going.
And then, YouTube Shorts came along. Suddenly, I could upload the hundreds of shorts that had built my following on those other platforms. And it changed everything. It got me that new number.
2025: 100,000
It’s wild. And I am infinitely grateful. But behind those digits are people. Actual people. People who tell me they got into art because of my videos. Teachers using my stories in their classes. Parents sending me pictures of their kids reading my book.
That’s the true value of what I do. No number can beat that. Thank you so much for watching. I’ll see you on YouTube.
One art story. Once a month. Sometimes beautiful. Sometimes inspiring. Often slightly unhinged. That’s what The Gaze Mail will be. Subscribe via the link in the comments.
You see, I’ve been making art videos since 2019 — and they involve quite some writing. Scripts is what the things are called. And when they’re ready, I turn them into a video. Rendering the poor things obsolete. It’s the video that gets all the attention. No one cares about the writing.
So about two years ago I thought, you know what, let’s write a book. And I did. It’s called “Stupid Faces in Stunning Paintings” and it will be released in March of 2026 (pre-order link on my channel page). Couldn’t be happier.
But then I thought, you know what, let’s start a newsletter. Because I want to write ✨more✨ art stories.
So, if you like art stories that surprise and occasionally derail your brain in the best possible way, subscribe and you’ll get one delivered to your mailbox every month. 😊
SO HAPPY! ✨Stupid Faces in Stunning Paintings ✨is now available to pre-order (link in comments). It's a book full of the weirdest, funniest, most wonderfully awkward faces in art history.
I had so much fun writing this. For the past two years — in between creating videos — I dove into the strangest corners of the art world, digging up the goofiest expressions I could find. And boy did I find some.
Today I finally get to show you the cover. It’s released this fall in Dutch (my native language) and next spring in English, but the journey starts today. Can't wait to finally share this with you.
Hi everyone! 👋🏼 Quick update. I'm currently working hard on a new YouTube documentary that goes on a quest to find one specific image. 👀 That's coming later this summer. In the meantime, I'll keep uploading plenty of shorts to keep you entertained and educated! 🤓
Hi there. It’s been more than a year since I uploaded my last video essay, but I’ve finally started working on a new one. It will be about this wonderful man and his good friend Vincent. Coming soonish.
The Gaze
My new video is up! It's a (very) deep dive into my favorite artwork ever. Enjoy! 👁️🐽👁️
1 week ago (edited) | [YT] | 23
View 2 replies
The Gaze
Work in progress. 👀 ⏳
1 week ago | [YT] | 67
View 4 replies
The Gaze
My friends! I’m coming to Boston and New York in April. 🇺🇸 If I did a little book event for “Stupid Faces in Stunning Paintings… would you come? 👀 (asking for a friend)
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 15
View 11 replies
The Gaze
🔎 Coming in February: a brand new Gaze documentary diving VERY DEEP into one of the most detailed paintings in art history. We’ll zoom into tiny hairs, beautiful faces and yes… drooling horses. It’s the video I’ve always wanted to make about my favorite artwork ever. Can you recognize the painting from the details? 👀
3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 318
View 6 replies
The Gaze
I try not to chase numbers, because there’s always another. A desire for 1,000 followers becomes a craving for 10,000. Reaching 10,000 creates a monster called 100,000. Or to paraphrase the great John Green: there isn’t a number in the world that can fill the hole in your soul.
Be that as it may: I HAVE A SILVER F*CKING PLAY BUTTON SAY WHAAAT!?
Sorry.
You see, back in 2019, The Gaze was born on YouTube. An obvious choice, because it was my favourite place to hang out online. And even though today I have a greater following on other platforms, YouTube is still my favourite. By far.
It’s the place where I discovered people like @casey, @vlogbrothers, @Nerdwriter1 and @maxjosephdirector. Ordinary people that became heroes. Ordinary people with stories to tell. And they got me thinking.
I am ordinary.
I have stories to tell.
So I launched my own channel. At first, I only had a handful of viewers, most of them friends and family, but I didn’t care. I was a YouTuber.
My love for storytelling kept me going.
My love for art kept me going.
So I kept going.
2019: 0 subscribers
2020: 641 subscribers
2021: 7,433 subscribers
Getting more views and subscribers over time felt good. I mean, it’s thrilling. But nothing beats the thrill of uploading a new video. A new story to tell. So I kept going.
2022: 10,432 subscribers
2023: 26,335 subscribers
2024: 34,166 subscribers
And then, YouTube Shorts came along. Suddenly, I could upload the hundreds of shorts that had built my following on those other platforms. And it changed everything. It got me that new number.
2025: 100,000
It’s wild. And I am infinitely grateful. But behind those digits are people. Actual people. People who tell me they got into art because of my videos. Teachers using my stories in their classes. Parents sending me pictures of their kids reading my book.
That’s the true value of what I do. No number can beat that. Thank you so much for watching. I’ll see you on YouTube.
Love,
Matthijs aka The Gaze
1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 231
View 12 replies
The Gaze
One art story. Once a month. Sometimes beautiful. Sometimes inspiring. Often slightly unhinged. That’s what The Gaze Mail will be. Subscribe via the link in the comments.
You see, I’ve been making art videos since 2019 — and they involve quite some writing. Scripts is what the things are called. And when they’re ready, I turn them into a video. Rendering the poor things obsolete. It’s the video that gets all the attention. No one cares about the writing.
So about two years ago I thought, you know what, let’s write a book. And I did. It’s called “Stupid Faces in Stunning Paintings” and it will be released in March of 2026 (pre-order link on my channel page). Couldn’t be happier.
But then I thought, you know what, let’s start a newsletter. Because I want to write ✨more✨ art stories.
So, if you like art stories that surprise and occasionally derail your brain in the best possible way, subscribe and you’ll get one delivered to your mailbox every month. 😊
Hope to see you there.
Love,
Matthijs
2 months ago | [YT] | 99
View 4 replies
The Gaze
SO HAPPY! ✨Stupid Faces in Stunning Paintings ✨is now available to pre-order (link in comments). It's a book full of the weirdest, funniest, most wonderfully awkward faces in art history.
I had so much fun writing this. For the past two years — in between creating videos — I dove into the strangest corners of the art world, digging up the goofiest expressions I could find. And boy did I find some.
Today I finally get to show you the cover. It’s released this fall in Dutch (my native language) and next spring in English, but the journey starts today. Can't wait to finally share this with you.
Much love,
Matthijs
5 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 589
View 27 replies
The Gaze
Hi everyone! 👋🏼 Quick update. I'm currently working hard on a new YouTube documentary that goes on a quest to find one specific image. 👀 That's coming later this summer. In the meantime, I'll keep uploading plenty of shorts to keep you entertained and educated! 🤓
6 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 59
View 3 replies
The Gaze
Hi there. It’s been more than a year since I uploaded my last video essay, but I’ve finally started working on a new one. It will be about this wonderful man and his good friend Vincent. Coming soonish.
2 years ago | [YT] | 94
View 2 replies