For a long time now, the collections and exhibitions policy of the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent has been directed at the art of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. The realisations of the Flemish Expressionists in an (inter)national context is just one of the focal points within this specialisation that is carefully handled and expanded. The attention to not only visual art, but likewise to the archival material and contemporary periodicals associated with the Flemish Expressionists goes along with this focus. In this collections policy, information about the standard bearers of the Flemish Expressionism is also assembled, specifically that of André De Ridder (1888-1961) and Paul-Gustave Van Hecke (1887-1967).
In connection to this policy, the MSK recently purchased two works by Frits Van den Berghe (1883-1939) from the former collection of André De Ridder: The Seven Deadly Sins (1926) and A Curious Trip (1928). These pieces form a striking complement to the current, multi-faceted ensemble from Van den Berghe that the museum already houses. In addition to paintings such as Portrait of Fortuna Brulez (1919), Fishing for Stars (1920), Maleperduys (1920) and The Idiot by the Pond (1926), the MSK possesses various drawings by the artist such as the Ostend-Bachte-Maria-Leerne Sketchbook (1923) and Adventure (1924).
During the second half of the 1920s, Frits Van den Berghe made a number of works on paper -- of which some form a series -- in a mixed technique of pencil, aquarelle, oil paint and gouache. The gouache technique as an independent means of expression was exceptionally trendy amongst the Modernists in the 1920s from Belgium and abroad, such as Raoul Dufy (1877-1953), Charles Dufresne (1876-1936), Ossip Zadkine (1888-1867) and Gustave Van de Woestyne (1881-1947). From the latter, the MSK also has two still lives executed in gouache and oil paints.
The acquisitions of The Seven Deadly Sins and A Curious Trip are intriguing, poetic images, stripped of any form of anecdote, which distinguish themselves by their symbolic dimension, their metaphysical layering and their visionary power. Although the Expressionism with raw schematised forms and the darker colour palette in The Seven Deadly Sins and A Curious Trip remains palpable, the artist transcended the objective lyricism of Expressionism and hereto managed an innovative plastic design that is characterised by a freer, less-realistic arrangement of the different visual elements in the plane.
More information
Discover the oeuvre of Frits Van den Berghe on Arthub and mskgent.be
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