Polfliet Alfons

Alfons Polfliet (Niel, 1905–1990). Painter. Largely self-taught. He worked in the brickyards near Boom from a young age. He was introduced to painting through evening classes and studied under Hubert Coeck. He married in 1929. For about a decade, he excelled as a footballer. From 1937 onwards, he pursued further training in painting under Jan De Wit, and later again under Hubert Coeck. He exhibited for the first time in Niel in 1940 and further honed his skills in Boom under Vercruysse and Averhals. After the outbreak of the Second World War, he lacked the time to paint, but following his early retirement in 1969, he was able to devote himself fully to his art once more. From the press: "Through his choice of subjects, he demonstrates his strong local roots and his passionate attachment to the Rupel Valley—an industrial basin that would not immediately seem to inspire artistic expression" and "Whatever genre he practices—landscape, interior, seascape, still life, portrait, or floral arrangement—he is never tedious or monotonous; a characteristic dictated by his own distinctive style. Polfliet the romantic is triumphantly present in all his canvases. An emotional life that, moreover, plays out inspiringly against the magnificent backdrop of his native region. A happy man." (Ch. De Decker, 1977) Exhibited, among other places, in Niel in 1975 and at the De Schouwpijp gallery in Willebroek in 1977. Was active in Niel. (Piron)