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 - Window on Infinity

(c)photo: Jan Liégeois - Jef Verheyen Archive
• 0295 • Zonder titel (Hommage à Van Gogh), 1976
Private
Painting , 120 x 120 cm, 125 x 125 x 5,3 cm with frame
matt lacquer on canvas

Verheyen admires the liberation of light and colour in Van Gogh's work. In this tribute to that Dutch master we find the essential ingredients of Verheyen's painting: the suggestion of a landscape, a field of light, a shadow line, a subtle balance of warm and cold colours. With these Verheyen manages to capture the essence of the vibrant southern light. ‘For me it was not Van Gogh, but Verheyen who painted Provence,’ said Hans Liechti, a Swiss gallery owner and friend of Verheyen.