Notes

During his studies, the painter Jan Bogaerts came into contact with Antoon van Welie, a lecturer
at the Art Academy in Den Bosch. Under his influence, Bogaerts painted figures, portraits,
landscapes, parks, gardens and castle grounds in a symbolistical manner. From 1899, he studied at
the Art Academy in Antwerp. Although Bogaerts painted many portraits under assignment
during those years, from the 1920s he focused more on still lifes.

Bogaerts’ still lifes are painted very true-to-life. There is always something serene about them,
partly due to the temperate and subtle use of colour. However, the mystical atmosphere that is so
characteristic of his landscapes and gardens is lacking. Compared to the work of contemporaries,
the still lifes of Jan Bogaerts occupy a special position. Whereas Bogaerts purely focused on
realism, his contemporaries mainly worked in a luministic, abstract, (cubist) expressionistic or
magical-realist style. In addition, Bogaerts was a master in the representation of textures and
materials – from fragile glass, durable earthenware, reflecting tin, scrubbed wood, soft tomatoes
to hard egg shells, he accurately depicted everything. In this way, Jan Bogaerts showed that he
mastered all aspects of painting.