Gaston Xhardez (1924-1996). Abstraction. Circa 1960. Belgian School.

Aluminum frame. Frame dimensions: 51x 61 cm. Monogram at the bottom right.
Good condition, some micro cracks.
Gaston XHARDEZ (1924-1996).
Belgian photographer, graphic designer and painter, born in Brussels in an artistic environment, Gaston Xhardez was a student at the Royal Academy of Brussels. In the 1950s, man in the city, in his daily environment, the lives of ordinary people became his main field of observation. More than in the sphere of Humanist Photography to which it is certainly related, his work is part of the movement of Subjective Photography by Otto Steinert. ​ In the meantime, he met the circle of surrealist artists and became friends with Salvador Dali, Georges Hugnet, Man Ray and many others. His portraits of artists and writers were mainly taken in the 1950s and 1960s. The perfect harmony with his subject gives them a rare intimacy, to which the balanced form adds a new sense of classicism. He was a sought-after advertising photographer and remained so until the end of his life, thus ensuring a livelihood that allowed him to continue his photographic experiments without any financial worries. He also continued to work as a painter, sometimes informal abstract, sometimes in a surrealist spirit. He died in Uccle in 1996, leaving behind an immense artistic oeuvre that remains largely to be discovered.