• 0262 • L’Or – Aarde – Permeke (Gold – Earth – Permeke)
1976
Painting, 130 x 130 cm.
Materials: Matt lacquer on canvas
Collection: Private collection, Belgium.
In paintings such as Zwarte Zomer (Black
Summer) and Permeke, Jef Verheyen paints his
perception of the Flemish atmosphere, which is
rather dark. Later in the 1960s, he travels to Brazil,
Mexico, Tunisia, Spain, Italy and France in search
of light, which is everywhere different.
A northerner in search of southern light: Vincent
van Gogh went on the same quest before him.
In a letter written in Provence in 1889, Van Gogh
writes to his brother about the southern light:
‘Perhaps my journey into the south will bear
fruit, however, because the difference of the
stronger light, the blue sky, teaches one to see,
but especially and only if one looks at it for a long
time. (…) one must first and gradually accustom
one’s eyes to the different light.’
During his travels, Verheyen also writes in
his letters about the enchantment of the light.
‘Everything shimmers here!’ He tries to render
the essence of those impressions on canvas.
