The themes to be found in Matthijs Röling's work are many and varied: still lifes, interiors, portraits, nudes, landscapes and mythological scenes. The painter does not care to deny that many of his paintings represent a release from everyday life. "I do not pretend to have a message for the world. I am an escapist, searching for another place, for peace and pleasure; far from this terrible world which I still seem to love so much."