BELGIUM ~ Rik Wouters ~

...Beautiful new stamp issue with great special cancellation to mark the centenary of the death of the Belgian painter Rik Wouters....lovely painting called "Lady in Blue in front of a Mirror" (1914) can be seen in the Royal Museum, Antwerp... this fauvist artist is considered as one of Flanders’ key artists of the early 20th century...Big Thanks Johan!! (♥‿♥)

© Koninlijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van Belgie, Brussel
Rik Wouters (Mechelen, 1882 - Amsterdam, 1916)  was a Belgian fauvistisch painter, watercolourist, draughtsman and sculptor of portraits, figures, landscapes and still-life's.

He produced 200 paintings, around one thousand drawings and numerous sculptures. As an 18-year-old student, he fell in love with  Hélène ‘Nel’ Duerinckx, who became his wife and muse.

Rik Wouters was merely influenced by the works of James Ensor and Paul Cézanne in 1909. He obtained national success during his exhibition at the renowned Galerie Georges Giroux in 1912. He was a member of "Kunst Van Heden". At the beginning of the First World War, he ended up in a mental hospital in The Netherlands, eventually he died at the age of 33 in 1916.

His paintings are characterized by his unique use of lighting conditions which result in the creation of warm colour shades.

Stamp:

Rik Wouters - The Ironer
(Issued 22-08-2016)