Gerlo Urbain

Urbain Gerlo was a Belgian painter, born in Sombeke in 1897 and died in Waasmunster in 1986. He was educated at the Academies in Waasmunster and Sint-Niklaas, under the direction of J. Horenbant. He worked with the painter Felix Eyskens in Ranst and later with a photographer in Brussels. He eventually settled in Ghent, where he took classes at the Academy and opened an art gallery. He realized landscapes and village and farm views from Ghent, the Durme and Scheldt regions, Brittany, portraits, still lifes and flowers. He loved the morning and evening moods. His works often exude a bit of melancholy and delicate poetry, but the design remains solidly constructed. He used a sober color palette. In 1964 and 1965 he exhibited at the World's Fair in New York. From the press: “The work of U.G. gives the viewer few headaches. That simplicity, the purely figurative character and the intimate, somewhat melancholy sense of life was repeatedly underlined in his work by numerous critics.” Urbain Gerlo is mentioned in CRICK, BAS I and Two centuries of signatures of Belgian artists. (Piron)