La Peur by Frits Van Den Berghe
Scroll to zoom, click for slideshow

La Peur 1930

Frits Van Den Berghe

CanvasOil paintPaint
53 ⨯ 47 cm
ConditionExcellent
Currently unavailable via Gallerease

  • About the artwork
    Oil on canvas
    53,98 x 47,94 cm.
    Signed: lower right ‘FvBerghe’

    Provenance: Galerie Le Centaure, Brussels; Dr. S. Simon Muller, Brussels 1932; Auct. Sotheby’s. Paris, 24 March 2017, lot no. 28; Private collection, Belgium.

    Literature: Piet Boyens, Frits van den Berghe 1883-1939, Antwerp 1999, no. 680, p.450, ill., as: De Angst.; Emile Langui, Frits Van den Berghe, 1883-1939: catalogue raisonné de son oeuvre peint, Brussels 1966, no. 362, ill., as: La Peur (De Angst).

    Frits van den Bergh was the first Flemish expressionist, experimenting different styles. Initially he worked impressionistic, a style he found suitable to express his soul. The subconscious truly fascinated the Belgian artist, therefore Surrealistic elements entered his artworks. Caused by the political and social recession of the 1920s and 1930s, as well as the mental condition of Van den Berghe, subjects such as threat, desolation and fear became more leading in his work. These themes correspond perfectly to the expressionistic style he adopted. Marked by Impressionism, Expressionism and Surrealism, he tries to free himself from the dominant currents by turning to the world of the unconscious and the metaphor. Every image inspired by the real world often seems to move away from it. Around 1927 Van den Berghe choosed the way of surrealism. His manner of painting changed and the subjects became frightening dreams, in which eccentric figures float or fall. La Peur (1930) is an example of his late period in which he was influenced by the First World War and the economic crisis. He painted in tender ochres to dark earth tones, suggested dream images and grotesque hallucinations. With La Peur Van den Berghe put a face on the emotion fear. To him these monstrous figures are an embodiment of the power of the subconscious. Inspired by Max Ernst he found his solution for the processing of his expressionistic painting trend and his own poetic, dramatic and emotional moods. There are erratic figures and surfaces on the canvas that let us know Van den Berghe in all its capriciousness and bizarreness.
  • About the artist

    Frits van den Berghe was a Flemish painter, draftsman and engraver from Gent. Van den Berghe worked in a wide variety of styles, moving from Impressionism to Expressionism and eventually to Fantastic Surrealism. Together with Albert Servaes, Constant Permeke and Gustaaf de Smet, Van den Berghe is considered to be one of the co-founders of the Latem Expressionism group. Some of the other art societies he was active in were L'Art Vivant, Sélection and Les Compagnons de l'Art. He teached at the Academy of Arts in Gent, where he studied as well. Returning from New York in 1914, Frits was inspired by Jan Sluijter's Fauvism and German Expressionism. During the first world war, his expressionism flourished. In 1928, Van den Berghe started making cartoons for the socialist magazine 'Vooruit', where he would stay until his death. In the meantime, Van den Berghe's style had evolved from expressionism towards fantastic surrealism, depicting nightmares, dreams and hallucinations in a strong colour palette, clearly influenced by the German surrealist Max Ernst. He portrayed the human being as being generally obsessed and fearful. Influences of multiple important artists such as Max Ernst, Egon Schiele, Giorgio de Chirico, Edvard Munch and Leo Gestel are recognisable in his work.

Artwork details

Category
Subject
Material & Technique
Colour