Fishing for Stars
Artist / maker
Frits van den Berghe (painters (artists))Date
ca. 1920Period
20th centuryCollection
Museum of Fine Arts Ghent
During WWI Frits Van den Berghe moved to Het Gooi, a rural area east of Amsterdam. In the Netherlands, which was neutral, he came into contact with prewar modernist movements such as Expressionism, Cubism and Futurism. The Star-Fisher is a striking example of the personal synthesis of all these influences. The metaphysical layering and visionary power of Van den Berghe’s…
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During WWI Frits Van den Berghe moved to Het Gooi, a rural area east of Amsterdam. In the Netherlands, which was neutral, he came into contact with prewar modernist movements such as Expressionism, Cubism and Futurism. The Star-Fisher is a striking example of the personal synthesis of all these influences. The metaphysical layering and visionary power of Van den Berghe’s work – which is typical of his work as a whole – are often expressed, as in this case, in poetic images that continue to intrigue us. In The Star-Fisher we see a naked figure fishing reflections of the stars out of the water in the darkness of the night. The moonlight creates a dreamy, almost unreal atmosphere. Van den Berghe rarely explained his work, so it is often difficult to interpret. The seemingly futile activity of this ‘star-fisher’ probably symbolises the utopian desire for the absolute.
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