Wallaert Gaston

Gaston Joseph Wallaert was a Belgian artist, born in Brussels in 1889 and died in Hasselt in 1954. He was a painter and graphic artist. He studied at the Academy in Brussels under the guidance of C. Montald and E. Fabry (1906-1910 and 1913-1917). He produced landscapes, figures (Salomé), genre scenes, flowers, and still lifes. Affected by health problems and the misery of war, he fell into a depressive state and wandered aimlessly and discouraged around Brussels. Meanwhile, he came into contact with F. Courtens and E. Claus. Elisa Belpaire took him out of Brussels and arranged accommodation for him with the priest-poet August Cuppens in Loksbergen. In this village in the Hageland region, his painting became more exuberant. There, he befriended Jef Leynen and Hilarion Thans. Influenced by these two men, he created several religiously inspired works, mostly anecdotal-literary in nature. Gradually, more light and color appeared in his work. The vigorous and temperamental Wallaert's painting starkly contrasted with the traditional art still practiced in Limburg. Gaston Wallaert received support and encouragement from Jozef Muls. After 1930, he reached his peak as a landscape painter of the Kempen region. He was a member of the group Vie et Lumière. He sporadically published etchings in the collections 'Schoon Limburg' (1945 and 1949). He is listed in Bas I and "Two Centuries of Signatures of Belgian Artists" (Piron).