The challenged painting

From the 1970s, Raoul De Keyser renders his painting more subtle and sensitive. The harsh colors and bold outlines of clouds, boxes and chalk lines soften. Delicate nuances reveal the brushstroke and defy the wide monochromatic surface. Edges are more brittle and interact with color areas.

The duality between the recognizable and the abstract provokes tension in “The Unanswered Question” (1972). Green grass is a favorite subject of De Keyser. The flat Flemish plain shows a slight slope, but all the remaining space is left to the soft blue sky. The horizontality is challenged by an extremely subtle vertical line that is barely noticeable but mercilessly increases tension.

The contrast between flatness and upward movement questions the limits of the painting. Pictorial space expands beyond the canvas. The scenic dimension acquires a particular depth effect produced with minimal elements, emphasizing the autonomy of the painting as support and pictorial layer. De Keyser's canvases are representations of things in their simplest forms that are challenged.