Matthijs Röling (Oostkapelle, 1943) is the figurehead of contemporary Dutch figurative painting. After his education at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten (Royal Academy of Arts) in the Hague and the Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunsten (State Academy of Arts) in Amsterdam from 1960 till 1964, he started his career as an independent painter.
His themes includes still lives, (self-)portraits, nudes, landscapes, interiors and mythological depictions. He lives and works in the Netherlands.
As teacher at Academie Minerva ( the Academy of Arts in Groningen) from 1973 till the present day, Röling values the teaching of workmanship and traditional aspects of painting. As a teacher, he left his mark on Dutch figurative art in general, and especially on Northern realism. Well known painters such as Pieter Pander, Douwe Elias and Sam Drukker were taught by him.