The Belgian ZERO artist Jef Verheyen (1932-1984) became known as the painter of light streams and colour spectra. He experimented not only with light, but also with movement and the invisible as means to evoke natural mechanisms and to reveal universal interrelationships between human beings and the surrounding world. He used geometric principles – his passion for geometry was born out of his interest in mathematics and (Greek) philosophy – as the basis for harmony. Verheyen never gave up on traditional media and materials such as the canvas, paint, and brushes to search for the essence of our nature. 

Jef Verheyen

(c) Scan: CKV, 2022 - Jef Verheyen Archive
Jef Verheyen in 't Venster, 1959
Jef Verheyen Archive
Article , 1/8 page
Ink on newspaper

Rotterdamsch Nieuwsblad
21 October 1959
Author's initials: D.W.

In this article, comparison is made with the work of Mark Rothko and Yves Klein:

Blijkbaar uiterst schroomvallig voortgaande, luistert Verheyen naar de stem van zijn middelen, lang stilstaande bij minimale effecten. Iets dergelijks doet de in Amerika werkende Mark Rothko, maar dan in Amerikaanse, zeer grote formaten. Yves, de zoon van de charmante schilder Frits Klein doet een kleine maar beslissende stap verder en raakt buiten de schilderkunst. 

Verheyen appreciated this association, according his letter to Jean F. Buyck, 15 March 1980.