Bram Bogart (12 July 1921, Delft – 2 May 2012, Sint-Truiden) was a Belgian expressionist[1] painter most closely associated with the COBRA group.[2]

Bram Bogart
Born12 July 1921 (1921-07-12)
Delft, the Netherlands
Died2 May 2012 (2012-05-03) (aged 90)
Sint-Truiden, Belgium
OccupationBelgian painter
MovementExpressionism, Excessivism

Early life and education

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Abraham van den Boogaart was born in Delft, the Netherlands, the son of Abraham van den Boogaart, a blacksmith. He attended a technical school, and trained for a career as a decorator, while taking a correspondence class in drawing.[3]

Career

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Following his education Bogart took a job with an advertising concern in Rotterdam. Subsequent to World War Two the then twenty-five-year-old painter settled in Paris, France, where he was among the founders of Art Informel. At first he experimented with cubism and figurative drawing, depicting flowers, still life and self-portraits. In the 1950s he began to concentrate on working with impasto. With thick layers of boldly applied and colourful paint, he developed an expressionist style which became more abstract with time.[4]

In 1961 he and his later to be wife Leni permanently relocated to Belgium and in 1969 he became a Belgian citizen. Here he began to experiment with a more three-dimensional medium, a mix of mortar, siccative, powdered chalk, varnish, and raw pigment, applied to large, heavy wooden backing structures.[5][6]

Bogart exhibited frequently in Antwerp and Ghent. In 1971 he represented Belgium at the Venice Biennale.[7]

In 2011 the Bogart presented an exhibition in celebration of his 90th birthday, a display of his Monochrome paintings, held at the Bernard Jacobson Gallery in London. A retrospective of his work was also exhibited at Galerie Jean-Luc and Takako Richard in Paris. Bogart died on 2 May 2012 in Sint-Truiden, Belgium, at the age of 90.

References

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  1. ^ "Bram Bogart". MutualArt.
  2. ^ "Bram Bogart obituary". The Guardian.
  3. ^ "Bram Bogart - Biography - Whitford Fine Art". whitfordfineart.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
  4. ^ "More Now than Then: When Art Reaches Back", Hyperallergenic by Thomas Micchelli on 16 August 2014
  5. ^ "Why is the New New Taboo?". Moffett's Artletter
  6. ^ Delta: A Review of Arts, Life and Thought in the Netherlands. Delta International Publication Foundation. 1973.
  7. ^ "Bernard Jacobson Gallery". jacobsongallery.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
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