Rik Wouters
[2] A sculptor, painter, draughtsman and etcher of typically fauvist style, Wouters' art resembled the works of artists including Henri Matisse, Paul Cézanne and André Derain- the "forefathers" of Fauvism.
[3][4][5] Rik Wouters' art, according to Adams (2018), reflects themes of "warmth and tenderness", his paintings characterised by an array of colours and brush strokes, frequently leaving unpainted canvas to increase this effect.
[6] Often depicting his muse-wife, Hélène, Wouters disregarded hidden symbolic inferences within his art in favour of a more "simplistic and genuine" style, distancing himself from mainstream artists.
[1][2] Wouters was educated in fine arts academies in Mechelen and Brussels, however his works usually slightly differ stylistically from other Fauvist artists.
After dropping out of school at age 12, he began working on wooden sculptures and furniture decorations in his father's workshop and developed a passion for the craft.
[1][8] Wouters applied to the Academy of Brussels in 1900, but was only admitted in 1901, resulting in a relocation to the Belgian capital to begin his tutelage under Charles Van der Stappen.
[1][8] Restricted by the mores of the institution, Wouters was unable to produce any works of originality and so painted within popular methodologies, including hidden iconographical meanings- a style he would later reject.
[10] Edith Hoffman (1956) suggests that in these early works, although proficient in both crafts, Wouters remained "dependant on those masters he admired most", and that it wasn't until 1909 for his sculpting and 1910 for his painting that he became "completely individual".
[3][8] Rik Wouters' The Nymph (an unfinished sculpture created during 1904 and 1905) is considered to be his "breakthrough" piece as it represented his desire to escape the restrictions of the academy as well as the limits his own talent, although it was never finished nor sold.
[3] He and his wife only intended to stay with his father for a short period, so he briefly worked for a porcelain manufacturer to make enough money to move to the countryside (in Boitsfort) in order to accommodate Hélène's recently contracted tuberculosis.
They did this (in 1907) for clean air upon the advice of a doctor they had seen in the east side of Brussels however it also allowed Wouters an opportunity to paint freely.
He achieved three-dimensionality through colour contrasts- shadowing with darker reds, blues or greens- but rarely using drawn contours.
[8] Further experimentation with watercolours and the use of blank canvas began to create an effect which Julie Beckers (2017) describes as a "seemingly unfinished piece" which is used to "invite the observer to finish the strokes on his behalf".
[3][8] Although his wife occupied the focus of the majority of his works (around 75% of his oeuvre), Wouters occasionally painted other people and places of particular interest to him.
Initially, these were painted in his usual method, however, as his health worsened he began to adopt a bleaker palette, reflecting his situation.
[3][8] Having returned to Belgium, Wouters borrowed 10,000 francs in order to buy a block of land upon which he built a house based on his own architectural designs.
