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XXXXXAlthough
I had previously come across, and liked, individual paintings
by Bram Bogart, nothing prepared me for seeing his large
retrospective at the Musee de Mons, in Belgium, six years
ago. What power! What passion! I was bowled over. I owe
this revelation to my friend, the philosopher, Marcel Paquet,
who had invited me to the opening. I thought that I knew
post World War II, European painting, but here, was a truly
towering figure, perhaps the greatest of all, and I had
no idea of his accomplishments.
..........It turns out that I was not alone in my ignorance.
Bogart, who is now eighty, has had over two hundred one man shows
in Europe, but only two in the United States! He has produced
extraordinary, distinctive and very consistent body of work for
over forty years; the story of painting in the late twentieth
century cannot be told without him. Yet he is barely known in
this country.
..........Bogart is of the generation of painters who
matured in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, which,
in the U.S. saw the advent of Pop Art and Color Field Painting.
But Bogart should be seen, first of all, in the context of a
distinctly European tendency of that time: pieture matiére,
or, as it is called in this country, Matter Painting. This includes
Alberto Burri, Nicolas de Staël, Antonio Tapies, Jean Dubuffet,
Jean Fautrier, Willi Baumeister and others. All have made relief-like
paintings, which feature a viscous materiality, heavy textures,
and the brute, physical existence of the work. Their oil paint
was often freighted with mortar, cement, sand, modeling paste
and other inert, gritty and dense substances. They usually favored
neutrals and earth colors, and their pictures were often linked
to old walls and topographical maps. In his mature style, Bogart
might be said to take Matter Painting to a whole new level.
..........In 1961, having settled in Brussels, Bogart
broke though to his present style. His paintings became larger,
simpler and brighter. Working on the floor, he spreads his unique,
cement-like, paint substance (color pigments, oil, varnish, water,
siccative, lime and powdered chalk) over a surface of jute attached
to canvas and wood. For this he employs huge brushes and trowels
which can be up to six feet wide. All of this involves enormous
physical effort. A giant of a man, Bogart likes the width of
his largest paintings to be within his own wingspan. This work
can weigh up to 600 pounds. They can be hung on walls but are
often exhibited on sturdy, steel easels. Their surfaces are unframed,
indeterminate at their edges and as much as eight inches thick.
They are unique in the way that their massive bulk and weight
create a thunderous, expressive power.
..........Bogart’s work also can be said to relate
to the other main European tendency of the post war years, l’art
informel or tachisme. This approach stresses large size, free
form, gestural drawing, creating an immediate, kinesthetic appeal
to the viewers own body. Bogart’s work of the fifties,
before he broke through to his present style, were closest to
the German tachiste painter, Emile Schumacher. Bogart regards
his personal ecriture, his “hand,” as the most important
feature of his art; it gives his work a dynamic energy and sense
of titanic struggle.
..........So too, Bogart’s art relates to American
Color Field Painting in its scale and broad areas of clear, declarative
hue (occasionally his painting reminds me of Hans Hoffman). Like
Yves Klein, Bogart was one of the few Europeans to be enthusiastic
about Color Field.
..........A Dutchman who has made Belgium his home, Bogart,
might also be seen as combining the extremes of modern Dutch
painting: Van Gogh and Mondrian. Like them he seeks to convey
a profound, spiritual message. Van Gogh’s painting too
is a vehement, visceral identification with paint, making of
it a living substance. And as with Mondrian’s, there is
in Bogart’s art a lofty ideality and purity, a love of
contrasting primary colors, geometry and dry, matt surfaces.
..........I hope the above references will help an American
audience put Bram Bogart’s art in context. Most important
though, is to see what a significant personality he is. His vision
is Baroque and Bunyanesque; he monumentalizes lyrical feeling.
His is a joyous, extravagant, affirmation of painting and our
being in the world.
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