Flemish modernist painter gets a worthy retrospective

Sitting in a dark grey sofa against a red curtain, staring at the viewer with a sorrowful look, his left eye hidden behind a patch. This striking but woeful self-portrait closes the retrospective of Flemish modernist painter Rik Wouters at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels.

The painter finished it in 1915, some eight months before he succumbed to cancer, at the age of 33. The decade preceding his untimely demise, he created one of the most impressive oeuvres by a Flemish artist, influenced by the revolutionary insights of Paul Cézanne and the explosions of colour that characterised the fauvists.

He used this approach to paint mostly domestic scenes, often with his wife Nel as the main character: ironing, reading a book or just sitting at a window. Homely as they might look, that use of colour renders them with a rambunctious character. This opposition between form and content is the main force of Wouters’ work.

The artist was born in Mechelen but created the majority of his work in Brussels. With an exhibition in Antwerp and several in his birthplace, Wouters has been the subject of much attention over the last few years.

But this one is the first exhibition of his work in Brussels since 2002. With 72 paintings, 33 sculptures and 94 works on paper, this is the most complete show ever devoted to the artist.

Surprises might be rare for aficionados of the painter, but even so: It remains an oeuvre that keeps revealing new insights every time you view it.

Until 2 July at Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels