Jos Verdegem 1897-1957
Willem Elias
Artha, 2024
€34,00
JBelgian artist Jos Verdegem (1897-1957) grew up in the Ghent port district in a family without an artistic tradition. At the academy, where he trained as a house painter, his exceptional drawing talent was quickly noticed. During the First World War he became a war volunteer and was part of the ‘Section artistique de l’Armée’, where visual artists recorded life at the front.
After the war he settled in Paris. He found inspiration in circus life, but especially in the museums where he studied ‘les anciens’. His work was highly appreciated. Personal and collective exhibitions in Parisian galleries followed in rapid succession. In 1929 he returned to Ghent where he was a teacher at the academy from 1932 until the end of the Second World War.
His work shows a strong personality, original vision and a recognizable style. He resolutely rejected the (Flemish) expressionism and animism that many of his contemporaries adhered to. He started looking for his own realistic formal language. His approach is in line with phenomenology, in which observation leads to authentic subjective experience. His monumentalism, inspired by Rubens, reflects his humanistic beliefs. Experiments with collages, photography and various materials, but also with design and use of color during his ‘période vache’ (1946-1953), characterize his rich and varied oeuvre. IN DUTCH!
ISBN: 9789464368215
