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FLEMISH painter Ilse D’Hollander committed suicide in 1997 at the age of 28 and only a single solo exhibition of her work was held during her lifetime. Yet in her short life she created intelligent, sensual work of rare clarity, beguiling composition and a breath-taking colour palette.
Born in Sint Niklaas, D’Hollander drew upon her experience of the Flemish countryside where she spent her highly productive final years of her life, producing over 500 paintings. A selection is now on show in a free exhibition at London's Victoria Miro Gallery.
Lowland vistas of vast horizons intrigue with the suggestive power of their entirely abstract representation, a stupendous achievement for someone so young. “My being is present in my action on the canvas,” she once said and the almost confessional intimacy, aided by the size of the canvas, exudes calm and tranquillity.
D’Hollander walked and cycled across this landscape she so obviously loved and absorbed with tremendous affection throughout the seasons.The geometry of canals, pastures, ploughed fields and distant trees is defined with a degree of abandon that comes with confidence and a definite vision.
That knowledge is palpable in the textures of paint — layers of colour capturing the luminosity of the midday sun, the descending ochres of dusk, the haze of morning mist or autumnal greys are thrilling visual reflections of reality.
They were aptly called “sonnets,” as their rigorously structured thematic organisation attests and, astonishingly, there is no repetition in what she created. The “wow” factor extends to every single canvas.
For reasons only known to herself, D’Hollander never painted human figures and perhaps that would have come later in life. Even so, she is without doubt one of the greatest woman painters of the modern era.
Runs until December 21, opening times: victoria-miro.com
