Bram Bogart

– colourful works by an expressionist master

Lot 666-670 are to be sold at Uppsala Auktionskammare’s Important Sale Week 10-13 December 2019

The expressionist painter Abraham van den Boogaart was born in Delft, The Netherlands on July 12, 1921. In his early years he attended a technical school and took a few drawing classes, training to become a decorator. Slowly shifting his focus more towards becoming an artist, Bogart eventually moved to Paris and later on settled in Belgium where he became a citizen in 1969. In 1971, he represented Belgium at the Venice Biennale and today his famous works can be found in major private and public collections worldwide such as the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst in Ghent among others.

Famous for his paintings characterized by uneven surfaces created by using a mixture of oil, pigment, mortar, chalk and siccative, which is an additive used to speed the drying of oil paints. His works are characterized by heavy impasto applications of colour, producing an almost relief-like surface rising from the panel. Often painted in bright colour combinations and composed in patterns or loose shapes, his works are easily recognisable.

Included in this sale are several pieces by Bram Bogart, dating from different periods in the artist’s life. Bogart went through various phases within his artistry and his expression changed over the years. The two monumental works of art “Troisblue” and “Window” are great examples of this. “Window” was executed in 1964, at a time when simplified signs continued to be of great importance to his work. Divided into three different colour blocks of black, white and red, a sign in red has been stretched out in the middle of the painting. Bogart applied paint masses with a bush or a knife on burlap, a technique that allowed him to enhance the colours. In the early 60’s, his paintings became flatter and simpler, although use of fewer colours made them appear brighter on the surface. The second monumental work is titled “Troisblue”, an energetic painting depicting a circle in black surrounded by a frame-like field in clear blue. After 1970 Bogart started to work in a more playful style and experimented with painting over the edges of the panel, which “helps to break the rigidity of the square”, and daring colour combinations. Bogart also developed his use of different signs and began to paint an oval shaped pattern in the mid part, as can be seen in “Troisblue”. The artist stated himself: ”This precise and tense application of the strokes is the movement I have always strived for”.

These large works present a unique opportunity to acquire important works by Bram Bogart from a Swedish private collection, which have never before been offered at auction. See lots »

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