compositie 2, 2007

A painter of the abstract vein, Raoul De Keyser’s work employed traditional materials; his earliest outputs were acrylic on paper, before he eventually switched to oil on canvas in the 1970’s. His work focuses on simplicity and the ability to convey reality in a heightened, exaggerated form through a combination of abstraction and representation – often depicting the mundane, De Keyser would feature everyday items such as door handles and garden hoses in his work. De Keyser has cited Al Held as one of his earliest influences, and he has since gone on to become part of the New Vision movement, led by fellow artist Roger Raveel. In his later works, De Keyser often used a monochrome base as a foundation, over which he would often layer muted tones to create simple lines, shapes and grids – Drift is one of his most famous works of this kind and captures the essence of his art quite simply but succinctly.