Pierre Vlerick (1923-1999) The early works 1954-1970

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Pierre Vlerick
(1923-1999)
The early works: 1954-1970
From ‘Ecole de Paris’
to ‘Abstract Impressionism’
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Anouk Vlerick, Hélène Knapen & Etienne De Smet, Katia Ballegheer
(KASK – Kunstenbibliotheek), Prof. Dr. Willem Elias, Firmin De Maître, Christiane Pattheeuws &
Leo Steel, without whom this exhibition could not have taken place.
Raf Steel - Emmy Steel
Galerie St-John
Please note
All works illustrated are for sale, save for the supplementary documentary photographs or
documents, unless otherwise stated.
Dimensions are noted as: height x width and in centimetres.
Please contact us for prices.
We can provide you with specific shipping quotes. Works can also be collected at the gallery or
delivered by us at your doorstep.
Upon request, we can provide a preliminary condition report, but please bear in mind that we
are not professional restorers and that we cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of our
assessment of the condition of a work. If needed, a professional restorer can be asked to make
a condition report, however this will not be free of charge.
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Selling Exhibition
11 June – 12 September 2021
Organised by Galerie St-John, Gent
At 2 Venues:
Galerie St-John
Bij St-Jacobs 15A
&
Galerie SJ2
Bij St-Jacobs 11A
Open:
Friday - Saturday 11-17h
Sunday 10-12h
& Private viewings by appointment
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Catalogue Pierre Vlerick
Ecole de Paris – the 1950s
It is clear that Pierre Vlerick (1923-1999) has always been an exceptionally gifted artist. Already in
his formative years at the Ghent Academy (1940-1944) he is awarded a gold medal upon
graduating. Like many artists of his generation in Ghent, Vlerick was influenced by his teacher,
painter and etcher Jos Verdegem (1897-1957). He continues studying etching and printing
techniques in Verdegems studio after his graduation. The Verdegem influence is clearly visible in
his works dating from before 1955.
It was probably also Jos Verdegem who persuaded the young artist to go to Paris. In 1947-1948
Vlerick enrolls at the la Grande Chaumière Academy. La Grande Chaumière was a favourite
among the Parisian private academies with foreign artists. It had always held a great appeal to
Belgian artists since the 1910s, thanks to the reputation of its most important teachers René
Ménard (1861-1930), Lucien Simon (1861-1945) and of course Maurice Denis (1870-1943). Denis
was considered to be the godfather of abstract art by many artists and art critics. According to
Pierre Vlerick, he still received advice from Emile Othon Friesz (1870-1949).
At La Grande Chaumière, Vlerick is challenged to leave the Verdegem influence behind and to
build a formal language of his own. Always starting from observing reality, Vlerick develops a
way to translate reality into visions of colour and form, with the former steadily gaining ground
throughout the years.
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“I think we best situate Pierre Vlerick somewhere on an impossible bridge
between figurative and abstract reality. In the attached photo, with some imagination,
a relationship can be discovered with forms from the visible world, such as the base of
a crystal vase, a carpet, a fruit bowl, etc., but this painting is not even a direct
representation or suggestion. It is a completely new reality transformed after an
archetype of nature. In the work of Vlerick, colour also plays a major role in
decomposition and reconstruction” according to writer and artist Hugo Claus in
1949.
“ […] Ik denk dat we Pierre Vlerick het best situeren ergens op een onmogelijke
brug tussen figuratieve en abstracte werkelijkheid. In de hierbije foto is er mits enige
verbeelding wel een verwantschap te ontdekken aan vormen uit de zichtbare wereld,
als de voet van een kristallen vaas, een tapijt, een vruchtenschaal enzovoort, maar het
is zelfs daarvan geen directe weergave, of een suggereren, dit schilderij. Het is een
totaal nieuwe realiteit herschapen naar een “fond” van natuur. De kleur speelt hier,
bij Vlerick ook een grote rol in de ontbinding en het heropbouwen […] “
Hugo Claus
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Still life, 1956
Oil on unalite board
105,5 x 122 cm (128 x 145 cm with frame)
Signed and dated bottom left ‘P. Vlerick 1956’
In the original frame, patinated by the artist
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The Harlequin and the flowers, 1957-1958
Oil on board
122 x 138 cm
Signed and dated centre left‘P. Vlerick 1957-58’
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In 1955, a scholarship makes it possible for Vlerick to go to Spain. The change of light pushes
the painter towards the use of brighter colours. It is also clear that Vlerick starts to move towards
abstraction, but he still treats the figurative element as central and necessary for the composition
of the painting. Here he differs from his good friend and ally Jan Burssens, who in the 1950s
went from figurative to abstract painting, only to come back to figuration in the 1958-1959
period.
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1954-58’
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Le Toreador – the Toreador, 1954-1958
Oil on unalite board
164 x 122 cm (171,5 x 129 cm with frame)
Signed and dated top left ‘P. Vlerick 1954-58’
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Le Taureau – the Bull, 1959
Oil on unalite board
104 x 121 cm
Signed and dated bottom right ‘P. Vlerick 1959’
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Abstract Impressionism
At the Brussels World Exhibition of 1958 (Expo 58) a lot of young artists see the works of
the American abstract expressionists in reality for the first time and are impressed. It is not clear
whether it is this event that pushes Vlerick into the direction of abstraction, or if this path is
chosen after long discussions with Jan Burssens when he came back from New York in 1958. In
any case it is clear that from 1959 onwards Pierre Vlerick changes direction and radically evolves
towards a lyrical abstract expressionism. Some authors even use the term abstract impressionism
to describe his style, due to the fact that Vlerick starts from nature (his gardens), and uses colour
as a structural element in his paintings. The abstract paintings from the first half of the 1960s are
experimental and raw in their treatment of space and surface. We almost loose our footing
when we enter Vlericks world. The painter hands us some visual keys tough and bewitches us
with dazzling colours.
« Avec la complicité de tons évanescents, presque pastellisés, Vlérick [sic]
soustrait sa peinture aux structures formelles pour mieux saisir la musicalité des
thèmes colorés. Toujours une sensation familière de ciel, d’eau, de climat végétal
paraît en suspens dans l’effusion de la sensibilité picturale. […] Ce qui marque
surtout la conception générale de ses toiles, c’est leur fraîcheur d’accent, leur
fluidité, la lumière qui imprègne l’animation irisée de la palette. On y décèle une
saveur typiquement impressionniste qui invite à penser à Ensor, à Monet, à
Bonnard […] Le plus doux des coloristes flamands, ce Vlérick » L.-L. Sosset, 1965
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In 1961 Pierre Vlerick begins teaching at the Ghent Academy (he becomes director in 1969). In
the early 1960s the artist starts exhibiting abstract impressionist works at international shows.
Vlerick obtains a Fulbright scholarship which enables him to stay in the States in 1964 and 1968.
He briefly teaches at Harvard University in Boston. His stay in the US strengthened his belief that
the new direction he was pursuing, was the way to continue.
In the meantime, Vlerick collaborates in curating the Forum exhibitions in Ghent in 1961-62-63,
where the European avant-garde is prominently shown. This allowed him to be in close contact
with the artists and their ideas and again convinced him of the direction he had chosen. To his
credit, his work remained very personal and original and he never gave in to the fashions of the
day.
In 1968 a brief stay in Brazil would have a major impact on his restructuring of the Ghent
Academy. Towards the end of the 1960s, there is a slight shift in subject matter and execution.
More and more, nature serves as a backdrop to the painting of women, albeit in highly
decomposed forms, and it seems that photography and Pop Art are influencing Vlerick.
The works of the 1970s and 1980s are much more figurative than the works of the 1960s,
so we can decern a third phase in the work of Pierre Vlerick, which lasts until his death in 1999.
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Next page: Composition, 1959
Oil on unalite board
121 x 181 cm
Signed and dated‘P. Vlerick 1959’top left
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Composition Number 1, January 1959
Oil on unalite board
183 x 122 cm
Signed bottom and dated left ‘P. Vlerick 1959’&
at the back ‘P. Vlerick / No 1 Januari / 1959 / Afsnee’
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Bord de rivière, 1959-1960
Oil on unalite board - 121 x 91 cm
Signed and dated ‘P. Vlerick 1960’ top right & at the back ‘Bord de rivière / P. Vlerick
1959 / Afsnee’
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Composition, 1960
Oil on unalite board
121 x 61 cm
Signed and dated at
the back P. Vlerick 1960’
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Monologue des Bouches, 1960
Oil on unalite board
121 x 91 cm
Signed and dated top left ‘P. Vlerick 1960’ & at the back with title, signature
and date.
With Biennale di Venezia label of 1964 at the back
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Composition, 1960
Oil on unalite board
85 x 121
Signed and dated at the back ‘P. Vlerick 1960’
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Composition, 1960
Oil on unalite board
85 x 121
Signed and dated at the back ‘P. Vlerick 1960’
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Oiseau, 1959-1960
Oil on unalite board
90 x 121
Signed and dated bottom right ‘P. Vlerick / 1960’ & with signature, title and
date ‘1959’ at the back
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Tableau 4, 1961
Oil on unalite board
182 x 121 cm
Signed and dated bottom left ‘P. Vlerick 1961’& signature, title and date at
the back
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Pierre Vlerick and Karel Dierickx
Schilderij - Painting, 1961
Oil on unalite board
122,5 x 60 cm
Signed and dated bottom left ‘P. Vlerick 1961’
& with title, signature and date at the back
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Next page : Le Jardin Rouge, 1961
Oil on unalite board
123 x 184 cm
Signed and dated bottom left ‘P. Vlerick / 1961’& with title, signature
and date at the back
With Carnegie Institute Pittsburgh 1961 label & Art Belge Contemporain
Oslo 1963 label at the back
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La Boutique Impossible, 1961
Oil on unalite board
182 x 121 cm
Signed and dated top left & with title, date and signature at the back
With Art Belge Madrid 1962 label at the back
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Geen nachtschade, 1962
Oil on unalite board
121 x 61 cm
Signed and dated bottom left ‘P. Vlerick 1962’&
with title, signature and date at the back
Left to right: Roger Raveel, Pierre Vlerick, Paul Van Gysegem. Foto: Firmin De Maître
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Tableau 21, 1962
Oil on unalite board
85 x 121 cm
Signed and dated top left ‘P. Vlerick 1962’& with title, signature and date at the back
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Next page: Composition, 1963
Oil on unalite board
121 x 181 cm
Signed and dated top left ‘P. Vlerick 1963’
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Evitant les bruits, 1963
Oil on unalite board
120 x 90 cm
Signed and dated top left ‘P. Vlerick 1963' & with title, signature and date and
two Carnegie Institute Pittsburgh 1964 labels at the back
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Composition, 1966
Oil on unalite board
90 x 121 cm
Signed and dated bottom left ‘Vlerick 1966'
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Undated works ca. 1959-1965
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Yellow composition
Oil on unalite board
120 x 90 cm
Signed at the back ‘P. Vlerick'
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Composition
Oil on unalite board
120 x 90 cm
Signed at the back ‘P. Vlerick'
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Composition
Oil on unalite board
120 x 90 cm
Signed at the back‘P. Vlerick'
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Composition
Oil on unalite board
90 x 121 cm
Signed at the backt‘P. Vlerick'
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Composition
Oil on canvas
180 x 100 cm
Signed top right ‘P. Vlerick’
This work was probably painted at the end of the 1960s. It is a painting which
prefigures the classic, almost abstract Vlerick Garden paintings of the 1970s.
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Selective bibliography
Monographies
• Retrospectieve Pierre Vlerick – De Secreten van het Aardse, Gent, Caermersklooster –
Provinciaal Centrum voor Kunst en Cultuur, 11/02-27/03/2011
• Retrospectieve Pierre Vlerick, Gent, Galerie Van Langenhove, September 1995
• De ‘sixties’ van Pierre Vlerick met een inleiding van Willem Elias, Antwerpen, ICC,
17/03-23/04/1989
• Yang – tijdschrift voor literatuur en kommunikatie, nr. 79, december 1977
• Vlerick – the space all around her, ‘s-Gravenshage, Beneluxhuis, 31/01-1970-?
• Vlerick – the Space all around her, Köln, Belgisches Haus, 1969
• Vlerick, Brussel, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten, 1968
Consulted Period Group Exhibition Catalogues
• De jaren ’60 Kunst in België, Gent, Centrum voor Kunst en Cultuur Sint-Pietersabdij,
22/06-26/08/1979
• Aspecten 1, Brussel, Studio 44, 26/10-24/11/1974; Charleroi, Palais des Beaux-Arts,
30/11/1974-5/01/1975; Turnhout, Cultuur- en Ontmoetingscentrum De Warande 26/01-
2/03/1975; Gent, Centrum voor Kunst en Cultuur -gewezen Sint-Pietersabdij, 7/03-6/04/1975
• Gent 50-70 – stromingen in de Gentse schilder-en beeldhouwkunst vanaf 1950, Gent, Hotel
d’Hane-Steenhuyse, 26/04-27/05/1970
• Eerste Triënnale voor Plastische Kunst in België, Brugge, Stadshallen, 11/07-08/09/1968
• Kontrasten 1947/1967 – schilderkunst in België, Antwerpen, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone
Kunsten, 18/02-12/05/1968
• A modern belga Képzö-müvészet 45 éve, Mücsarnok, 3/02-18/02/1968
• 8+1 (Raveel, De Keyser, Elias, Mara, Theys, Robie, Vlerick, Wyckaert + Willem Vermandere),
Diksmuide, Boterhalle, 12/08-27/08-1967
• Belgische Schilderkunst van 1890-heden, Utrecht, Centraal Museum Utrecht, 26/03-
5/06/1966
• Europa-prijs schilderkunst / prix europe de peinture, Oostende, Kursaal, 3/07-15/08/1966
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• 45 anos de arte belga - A pinture belga contemporanea de 1920 a nossos dias, rio de
Janeiro, Musea de Arte Moderna, Novembro-Dezembro 1965
• La Biennale Internazionale d’Arte Contemporanea della Repubblica di S. Marino - Incontri
della Giovane Pittura Europea, rappresentate in questa edizione :Belgio, Cecoslovacchia,
Francia, Iugoslavia, Polonia, Italia, San Marino, 31/07-30/09/1965
• Prix/Prijs Olivetti 1965 Concours de peinture/ Schilderkunst-Wedstrijd, Brussel/Bruxelles,
Paleis voor Schone Kunsten/Palais des Beaux-Arts, 15-26/10/1965
• Trente-deuxième biennale de Venise – pavillon belge, Venezia, Pavillon belge, 1964
• Visie 64 - Schilder- en beeldhouwkunst in Nederland en België na cobra en jeune peinture,
Kortrijk, Broeltoren en museum, 6/06-15/07/1964
• Belgische Künstler von der Jahrhundertwende bis zo Gegenwart – Malerei - Graphik -
Plastik, Stuttgart, Württ. Kunstverein Kunstgebäude am Schlossplatz, 19/10-24/11/1963
• Contemporary Painting in Belgium, Washington D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of Art, 3/10-
1/12/1963
• Forum ’63, Gent, Centrum voor Kunstambachten - gewezen Sint-Pietersabdij, 1/06-
4/08/1963
• Joven Pintura Belga, Madrid, Sala de Exposiciones de la Direccion General de Bellas Artes,
06/1962
• Forum ’62, Gent, Centrum voor Kunstambachten - gewezen Sint-Pietersabdij,5/05-
3/06/1962
• The Pittsburg International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture, Pittsburg,
Departement of Fine Arts Carnegie Institute, 27/10/1961-7/01/1962
• Forum ’61, Gent, Centrum voor Kunstambachten - gewezen Sint-Pietersabdij, 20/05-
18/06/1961
Further Reading: Vlerick in context
• Seuphor M. e.a., La Peinture Abstraite en Flandre, Bruxelles, Arcade, 1963
• Robert-Jones Ph., La peinture abstraite en Belgique 1920-1970, Bruxelles, Crédit Communal,
1996
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Colophon
This online catalogue was made to accompany the exhibition Pierre Vlerick, the early works . All works displayed are
for sale.
Texts and research: Raf Steel and Emmy Steel
Editing and photography: Raf Steel and Emmy Steel; some photographs Firmin De Maître, De Smet-Knapen Family
and Ms. Vlerick
Copyright: Galerie St-John, the authors and the artists.
No part of this publication may be reproduced and / or published by means of print, photocopy, electronic medium
or any other method (including translation) without the prior written permission of the authors.
The publisher has done its utmost to request permission to all possible right holders regarding the use of (visual)
material for this online publication. If we have overlooked something, please contact us. Any errors will be corrected
in a subsequent issue.
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Galerie St-John – Bij St-Jacobs 15A/Nieuwpoort 2 (gps):
Art & Antiques Gallery
OPEN:
Wo, Do 14u-18u Wed, Thu
Vr, Za 10u-12u & 14u-18u Fri, Sat
Zo 10u-12u Sun
Ma, Di na afspraak – Mon, Tue . by appointment
&
GalerieSJ2 - Bij St-Jacobs 11Art :
Pierre Vlerick Exhibition Space
OPEN:
Vr & Za 11u-17u Fri & Sat
Zo 10u-12u Sun
En na afspraak - And by appointment
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