Vaes Walter
Walter Vaes was a Belgian artist born in 1882 in Borgerhout and died in 1958 in Antwerp. He was a painter and etcher. Spent his early years in Liverpool/England. Education painting and etching under the direction of P. Verhaert, an uncle by marriage. From 1900 a student at the Academy in Antwerp under the direction of A. De Vriendt. Rome Prize in 1904. Traveled to Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany and Asia Minor. In 1902 co-founder of Eenigen and in 1905 of Kunst van Heden. Stayed in Veere/Zeeland during the First World War. The earliest works tended to have a somewhat literary tinge to romanticism. However, he quickly became a painter of only small still lifes, flower arrangements and portraits. His canvases were painted very faithfully and with an extraordinary color virtuosity and bear witness to his love for material beauty, for delicate shapes and color harmonies. His portraits come across as sober and aristocratic. While his paintings remained tied to reality, his etchings sometimes evoked a visionary world, as in the fantastic scenes that emerged during the First World War. Considered the most important representative of late impressionist realism. Was a teacher at the Academy and in the Museums in Antwerp, Ghent, Liège and Brussels. Mentioned in BAS I and Two centuries of signatures of Belgian artists. Source: Piron