Raoul De Keyser (1930-2012, Deinze) is tacitly considered to be the great master among the Belgian painters of the last 50 years.

Following his debut in 1964, he developed a highly individual, tactile method in which the division between figurative and abstract is absorbed into the poetic alliance between the work and the everyday life of the artist. The exhibition tries to provide an insight into this process, which was continuously devoted to questioning and undermining the painterly medium.

S.M.A.K. is presenting the first survey of De Keyser’s oeuvre since his death, on the basis of about 100 paintings and 50-odd watercolours and drawings done between 1964 and 2012. An adapted version of the exhibition will be shown at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. It will also be accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue.