Gilbert Swimberghe

1927 – 2015

Gilbert Swimberghe (Sint Andries Brugge, 1927) trained at the Academies of Bruges (1940-46) and Sint-Joost-ten-Node (1947-48). Starting from Flemish expressionism, he evolved from the mid-1950s through stylized still lifes and compositions to abstract painting. In the late 1960s he experiments with reliefs in cardboard and wood, first in color, later in shades of gray or pure white. At the end of the 1970s, he leaves the three-dimensional behind to gradually pay more attention to the paint as matter, the touch and the brushstroke. Taking advantage of the density of matter, the direction of paint application, the nuances of color and the intensity of light, Swimberghe creates wedges and triangles in fields of gray, blue or red. Through this subtle way of working, he explores, as it were, the effect of color on surfaces and thus connects with Fundamental Painting.