Jef Verheyen

In the first decade of the artist’s career, the 1950s, the concept of his black monochromes takes shape. Verheyen defines these works as Schwarz darstellen or ‘depicting black’, a reference to Paul Klee. His Espace Noir works are black vibrant and foggy atmospheres with no beginning and no end, and are mostly painted with oil on burlap. In the second part of the 1950s, Verheyen made his first white monochromes (Espace Découpé, Monochromie [458]) on wood as well as on panel. The artist experiments with  collage and mixed media such as silver paint, smoke, glue, and nylon.

Around 1960, the artist further elaborates on his Zwarte Ruimte or ‘Black Space’. He conceives his series De 4 Elementen (‘The Four Elements’): earth, air, fire and light. Gold, silver and bronze pigment as well as brass powder are further explored to suggest the right atmosphere. Shortly after, around 1962, Verheyen introduces his Arcs works where multicoloured light beams pass through the canvas such as Zonneboog (‘Sunbow’), Regenboog (‘Rainbow’) or Maanboog (‘Moonbow’).  The artist also leaves the square canvas and paints on round fibreboards (tondo). Verheyen’s travels to Mexico and Brasil will be translated in his paintings around 1967-1968. At the end of the 1960s, Verheyen is preparing intensely for his luminous aurora works such as Lichtstroom, Lichtkolk, Lichtwenteling and Lichtvogel on the occasion of his Belgian representation at the Venice Biennial in 1970.

In the early 1970s, Verheyen paints his Lichtpijlen (‘Light Arrows’), and the laser paintings Eonen (‘Aeons’) and Arkturus. The artist has left Antwerp and now lives and works in Saint-Saturnin-d'Apt (Provence), where he will work very intensely. He now exclusively works with matt lacquer on canvas, and will not continue to do so until the end of his career. His paintings are large, square, composed diagonally and at times conceived as a diptych such as his works Day and Night and Spectra Venetiana. From 1977 onwards, he works on his Ideale Ruimte series, in which he further investigates Piero della Francesca's view on Urbino as the ideal city.

During his entire career, Verheyen will not lose affinity with Ancient Greek terms. Between 1980 and 1984 the artist works on paintings such as Apollo, Megaron, Dia-logos, Concordia and Isis. These last years of Verheyen’s life and work are characterized by paintings where diamond shaped mirrors are floating in the infinite, for example Diamant - Zwevende Ruimte and Grand Luberon Flottant.