Pierre Vlerick (1923-1999) Peindre non la Chose mais l'Effet qu'elle produit

Pierre Vlerick 

(1923-1999) 

Galerie St-John – info@st-john.be – 09/225.82.62 

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‘Peindre non la Chose, 

mais l’Effet qu’elle produit’ 


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Acknowledgements 

We would like to thank Anouk Vlerick, Hélène Knapen & Etienne De Smet, Christiane Pattheeuws & Leo 

Steel, without whom this exhibition could not have taken place. 

We also thank Inez Van den Berge, intern student from the department of Art History at Ghent University 

for her studious work on the catalogue. 

Please note 

Raf Steel - Emmy Steel 

Galerie St-John 

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 

29 September – 29 October 2023 

Organised by Galerie St-John, Gent 

Open: 

Thursday: 14-18h 

Friday - Saturday 10-12h + 14-18h 

Sunday 10-12h 

& Private viewings by appointment 

st-john.be 


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La Grande Chaumière – 1947-1948 

It is clear that Pierre Vlerick (1923-1999) is an exceptionally gifted artist. 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 Verdegem’s 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 study in 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. As stated in the article by writer, poet and artist 

Hugo Claus, the artist is searching for a path between decomposition and construction. 

Influences of Braque and the Ecole de Paris are clearly visible in the oil paintings shown 

here. Vlerick builds a two dimensional world, using line and colour. Figuration is suggested 

but fragmentated. These works of which few survive clearly paved the way for the 

abstract works painted in 1959 and 1960. 


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In the works on paper at the end of the 1940’s and the first half of the 1950’s, Vlerick 

combines the compositional prowess of Braque with the virtuosity of Picasso’s drawing 

technique. The works on paper are less experimental, consisting in most cases of a 

figurative lead subject around which the artist creates a complex pictorial space. 

Although it appears that to the works of 1959-1968, these drawings seem to have had no 

relevance, it is interesting to see that Vlerick returns to the drawings in his work of the 

1970s and 1980s. 

Always starting from observing reality, Vlerick develops a way to translate reality into 

visions of colour and form. 

Writer and artist Hugo Claus writes in 1949 (translated from Dutch): 

“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” 

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“ […] 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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1. Composition, 1947 

Oil on canvas (relined) 

40 x 50 cm (58 x 67,5 cm with frame) 

Stamp ‘Atelier Pierre Vlerick’ at the back 


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Oil on panel 

74 x 92 cm 

De Secreten van het Aardse, Gent 2011 (Retrospectieve Pierre Vlerick – 

page 27) 


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Oil on paper, laid down on panel 

53 x 68 cm (57,5 x 72 cm with frame) 

Signed and dated top left ‘P. Vlerick 1948’ 


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4. Portrait of Claire, 1950-51 

Graphite, charcoal and pastel on paper 

73,5 x 53 cm (day measure) (96 x 74,5 cm with frame) 

Signed and dated top left ‘P. Vlerick 1950-51’ 

With exhibition label: Biënnale van de schilderkunst Gamechangers en 

Eyeopeners 

(Museum van Deinze en de Leiestreek) 


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5. Horse and rider, 1956-59 

Mixed media on paper 

41,5 x 54 cm (day measure) (58 x 67,5 cm with frame) 

Signed and dated twice bottom right and centre left ‘P. Vlerick 1957-59’ & 

‘P. Vlerick, 1956-59’ 


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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 live for the first time and are impressed. It 

can be either this event that pushes Vlerick towards abstraction, or this path is chosen 

after long discussions with Jan Burssens after 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 lose our footing when we enter Vlerick’s world. The painter 

hands us some visual keys though 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 lead him to remain convinced 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 

his work. 

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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6. Abstrait (Abstract), 1959 

Oil on unalit board 

90 x 122 cm (92 x 123 cm with frame) 

Signed and dated bottom right ‘P. 

Vlerick 1959’ 


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Signed bottom right ‘P. Vlerick 1959’ 


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8. ‘Vogel’/ Oiseau (Bird), 1959 


93 x 122 cm (94,5 x 123,5 cm with frame) 

Signed and dated bottom right ‘Vlerick 1959’ 

& at the back ‘Vogel 1959 Afsnee’ 


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9. ‘Bord de rivière’ (Riverside), 1959-1960 

Oil on unalit 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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10. Composition, 1959-60 



Signed and dated top left ‘P. Vlerick 1960’ & at the back 

illegible title / ‘Afsnee 1959-60’ 


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Signed and dated at the back 

‘P. Vlerick 1960’ 


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Signed and dated bottom right ‘P. Vlerick 1960’ 

Next page: 13. ‘Mijn hof’ (My garden), 1960 

Oil on canvas 


Signed and dated top left ‘P. Vlerick 60’ 

At the back ‘Mijn hof Afsnee 1960’ 

Possibly exhibited at Mijn hof – Mon Jardin, Paleis voor 

Schone Kunsten 1960 & Forum ‘61, Gent 


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14. Mon jardin nr. 3, 1960 



Signed and dated top right ‘P. Vlerick 1960’ 


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15. Tableau nr. 21, 1960 


91,5 x 122,5 cm (93,5 x 123,5 with frame) 

Signed and dated top right ‘P. Vlerick 1960) 


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Pierre Vlerick’s participation in the ‘Joven Pintura Belga’ 

exhibition Madrid 1962 

Catalogue entry Madrid exhibition 1962 

16. ‘La Boutique Imposible’(La tienda impossible), 1961 


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 

(Number 60 in catalogue Madrid 1962) 


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17. Vacances inutiles – Vacaciones inutiles, 1960 




Title, signature and date at the back 

With Art Belge Madrid 1962 label at the back (number 61 in 

catalogue Madrid 1962) 

De Secreten van het Aardse, Gent 2011 (Retrospectieve Pierre Vlerick 

page 35) 


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18. Nuit froide / Noche fria, 1960 



Signed and dated top right and bottom right ‘P. Vlerick 60’ 

Art Belge Madrid 1962 and XXXII Biennale Internazionale d’arte di Venezia 

1964 (labels at the back) (number 62 in catalogue Madrid 1962) 


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92 x 63 cm (93,5 x 63,5 cm with frame) 

Signed and dated at the back ‘P. Vlerick Afsnee 1962’ 


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86 x 53,5 cm (87 x 54,5 cm with frame) 

Signed and dated at the back ‘P. Vlerick Afsnee 1962’ 


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21. ‘Ineffable’ (Ineffable), 1962 


91 x 61,5 cm (92,5 x 63 cm with frame) 


With title, signature and date at the back 

‘Ineffable P. Vlerick Afsnee 1962’ 


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22. Atelier (Studio), 1963 


122 x 85 cm (124 x 86,5 cm with frame) 

Signed and dated top left ‘Vlerick 1963' & with title, signature and date at the 

back ‘Atelier P. Vlerick 1963 Gand’ 


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23. Composition, undated 

Oil on canvas 

80 x 60,5 cm (82,5 x 63 cm with frame) 

Signed at the back ‘Vlerick’and 

‘Gentbrugge Brusselsesteenweg’ ‘nr. 37’ 

Possibly a very early work of the 1950’s, this works stands apart from the typical 

Vlerick abstracts. Painted on canvas and with a bold use of colour, this powerful 

work remained in possession of the artist. 


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Selective bibliography 

Monographies 

• Catalogus tentoonstelling Vlerick – Saodades (Palais des Beaux-Arts, 

22/02/1968-12/03/1968). 1968, Gent: archief St-John. 

• Affiche tentoonstelling Vlerick – The space all around her (Belgisches haus, 

Köln, 1969). 1969, Gent: archief St-John. 

• Uitnodiging tentoonstelling Vlerick – The space all around her (opening 

tentoonstelling Beneluxhuis,’S-Gravenhage op 31/01/1970). 1979, Gent: archief St- 

John. 

• Yang – Tijdschrift voor literatuur en kommunikatie, nr. 79 (december 1977). 

• Bettinger, Sven Claude, Willem Elias en Glenn Van Looy. De ‘sixties’ van Pierre 

Vlerick. Antwerpen: ICC, 17/03/1989-23/04/1989. 

• Retrospectieve Pierre Vlerick. Gent: Galerie Van Langenhove, 1995 

(tentoonstelling september 1995). 

• Elias, Willem en Sven Vanderstichelen. De secreten van het aardse: 

retrospectieve Pierre Vlerick. Gent: Provinciebestuur Oost-Vlaanderen, 

Caermersklooster 11/02/2011 – 27/03/2011. 

Consulted Period Group Exhibition Catalogues 

• G-58 hessenhuis. Antwerpen : Museum voor Schone Kunsten, 1973. Exhibition 

Pierre Vlerick : march 1960. 

• Forum ’61. 1961, VLERICK P. 93 KASK. Gent : Kunstenbibliotheek. Exhibition Forum 

‘61 Centrum voor Kunstambachten -gewezen Sint-Pietersabdij, 20/05/1961 – 

18/06/1961 

• The Pittsburg International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture, 

Pittsburg, Departement of Fine Arts Carnegie Institute, 27/10/1961-7/01/1962 

• Forum ’62, Gent, Centrum voor Kunstambachten - gewezen Sint- 

Pietersabdij,5/05-3/06/1962 

• Walravens, J. Joven Pintura Belga. Madrid : Direccion general de bellas artes, 

1962. Exhibition june 1962, Sala de Exposiciones. 


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• Forum ’63, Gent, Centrum voor Kunstambachten - gewezen Sint-Pietersabdij, 

1/06-4/08/1963 

• Contemporary Painting in Belgium, Washington D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of 

Art, 3/10-1/12/1963 

• Belgische Künstler von der Jahrhundertwende bis zo Gegenwart – Malerei - 

Graphik -Plastik, Stuttgart, Württ. Kunstverein Kunstgebäude am Schlossplatz, 

19/10-24/11/1963 

• Visie 64 - Schilder- en beeldhouwkunst in Nederland en België na cobra en 

jeune peinture, Kortrijk, Broeltoren en museum, 6/06-15/07/1964 

• 32. Espozione Biennale Internazionale d’Arte: catalogo. Venzia: 1964, page 183. 

(Exhibition pavilion belge 1964). 

• 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 

• 45 anos de arte belga - A pinture belga contemporanea de 1920 a nossos dias, 

rio de Janeiro, Musea de Arte Moderna, Novembro-Dezembro 1965 

• 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 

• 8+1 (Raveel, De Keyser, Elias, Mara, Theys, Robie, Vlerick, Wyckaert + Willem 

Vermandere), Diksmuide, Boterhalle, 12/08-27/08-1967 

• A modern belga Képzö-müvészet 45 éve, Mücsarnok, 3/02-18/02/1968 

• Kontrasten 1947/1967 – schilderkunst in België, Antwerpen, Koninklijk Museum 

voor Schone Kunsten, 18/02-12/05/1968 

• Eerste Triënnale voor Plastische Kunst in België, Brugge, Stadshallen, 11/07- 

08/09/1968 

• Gent 50-70 – stromingen in de Gentse schilder-en beeldhouwkunst vanaf 1950, 

Gent, Hotel d’Hane-Steenhuyse, 26/04-27/05/1970 

• 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 


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Warande 26/01-2/03/1975; Gent, Centrum voor Kunst en Cultuur -gewezen Sint- 

Pietersabdij, 7/03-6/04/1975 

• De jaren ’60 Kunst in België, Gent, Centrum voor Kunst en Cultuur Sint- 

Pietersabdij, 22/06-26/08/1979 

• Mijn hof – Mon jardin. Tentoonstelling Paleis voor Schone Kunsten in 1960. 

Uit Retrospectieve Pierre Vlerick. Gent: Galerie Van Langenhove, 1995, p. 25 

(tentoonstelling september 1995). 

• Pierre Vlerick: The early works (1954-1970) – From ‘Ecole de Paris’ to ‘Abstract 

Impressionism’(11/06/2021 – 12/09/2021). 2021, Gent: archief St-John. 

Further Reading: Vlerick in context 

• Seuphor, M. Peinture abstraite en Flandre avec le concours de Maurits Bilcke, 

Leon-Louis Sosset, Jan Walravens. Brussel : éditions arcade, 1963. 

• Roberts-Jones, Philippe en Galerie du Crédit Communal. La peinture abstraite 

en Belgique : 1920-1970. Brussel : Snoeck-Ducaju & Zoon, 1996. 


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Colophon 

This online catalogue was made to accompany the exhibition Pierre Vlerick, ‘Peindre non la chose, mais 

l’effet que’elle produit ‘. All works displayed are for sale. 

Texts and research: Raf Steel and Emmy Steel 

Editing and photography: Raf Steel and Emmy Steel; 

Period Photographs: De Smet-Knaepen 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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Buying & Selling Art, Antiques, Estates and Archives 

www.st-john.be 

Galerie St-John 

Bij St-Jacobs 15A / Nieuwpoort 2 (gps) 

B-9000 Gent – Belgium 

T. +32-9/225.82.62 info@st-john.be 

instagram.com/galeriestjohngent - facebook.com/galeriestjohn 


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Galerie St-John – Bij St-Jacobs 15A/Nieuwpoort 2 (gps) 

OPEN: 

Do 14u-18u Thu 

Vr, Za 10u-12u & 14u-18u Fri, Sat 

Zo 10u-12u Sun 

Ma, Di, Wo na afspraak – Mon, Tue, We by appointment 


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Pierre Vlerick (1923-1999) Peindre non la Chose mais l'Effet qu'elle produit

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