Dirk Filarski was a traveling artist who spend weeks abroad capturing cities and their ambiance. He left for Switzerland in 1912, where he painted mountain landscapes with striking color accents. Between 1912-1917 he stayed for longer periods in Switzerland and Italy (Lago Maggiore). Filarski traveled extensively to Southern Europe. In 1925 he lived with his family in Tourettes-sur-Loupe, where he made paintings in green, yellow, and light brown tones. That year he also traveled with Matthieu Wiegman through Tuscany to Rome.

Dirk Filarski was restless by nature and found it difficult to commit to a place. He traveled constantly to Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland, with Bergen as his starting point. ‘Although Filarski is known as a Bergen School painter, his early work is light and colourful. Later his work became darker and brown tones often returned in his work.