 (1930–2012) is known for his sophisticated and tempered paintings that subtly and evocatively explore the relationship between color and form. Made up of simple shapes and painterly marks, his works allude to the natural world and representational imagery, while avoiding suggestions of narrative or reductive frameworks that limit experience and interpretation. Despite—or precisely because of—their spare compositions, De Keyser’s works convey a visual intensity that inspires prolonged contemplation, mirroring the artist’s own sustained, reflective process.

De Keyser was born in Deinze, Belgium. His work has been represented by David Zwirner since 1999. Previous solo exhibitions of the artist’s work at the gallery’s New York location include 

 (2016), which was first on view at David Zwirner, London. An exhibition of De Keyser’s work at the gallery's Hong Kong location in 2021 marked the artist's first solo presentation in Greater China, and David Zwirner, Hong Kong, presented 

Since the mid-1960s, the artist’s work has been the subject of several solo exhibitions at prominent institutions. In 2000, a large-scale retrospective was presented at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, which traveled to the Goldie Paley Gallery, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, and The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago. A major survey of the artist’s paintings traveled extensively from 2004 through 2005 to the Whitechapel Gallery, London; Musée de Rochechouart, France; De Pont Museum, Tilburg, The Netherlands; Museu de Serralves, Porto, Portugal; and Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland. In 2009, his paintings were exhibited in a retrospective at the Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany, and his watercolors were presented jointly at the Museu de Serralves, Porto, Portugal, and the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin.

Other venues that have hosted important solo exhibitions of De Keyser’s work include the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent (2001); Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium (2002); Museum van Deinze en de Leiestreek, Deinze, Belgium (2007 and 2013); Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France (2008); De Loketten, Flemish Parliament, Brussels (2011); the Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (2015); and Museum van Deinze en de Leiestreek, Deinze, Belgium (2017). From 2018 to 2019, a major retrospective of the artist’s work opened at the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.) in Ghent and traveled to Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. In 2018, Cultuurcentrum Strombeek Grimbergen, Belgium, presented 

Raoul De Keyser: In Print. Zeefdrukken, Lithografieën, Linosneden, Etsen

Work by the artist has been featured in countless group exhibitions worldwide, including Documenta IX in Kassel, Germany, in 1992, and the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007.

The artist’s work is held in permanent collections worldwide, including the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Belgium; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent.

Raoul De Keyser, 2009. Photo by Christophe Vander Eecken

Edited with text by Martin Germann, and Bernhard Schwenk. Texts by Steven Jacobs, Luk Lambrecht, and Philippe Van Cauteren

From his debut in 1964, the widely beloved Belgian painter Raoul De Keyser pursued and developed a unique compositional sensibility in which distinctions between abstraction and figuration were to dissolve in an intimate, humble sensation of “everydayness.” His modestly scaled paintings featured simple but elusive shapes often rendered in a broadly pastel palette, full of gentle sensuality.

This 240-page volume accompanies the first posthumous retrospective exhibition on De Keyser at S.M.A.K., the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art in 2018, and is conceived as the new standard De Keyser monograph. Alongside a detailed account of the development of his art, it contains a comprehensive illustrated chronology, as well as a revelatory chapter on his drawing and photography. Friends and admirers of De Keyser’s, such as Tomma Abts, Maria Eichhorn, Werner Feiersinger, Suzan Frecon, Roland Jooris, Thomas Scheibitz, and James Welling, contribute comments on his life and work.

Raoul De Keyser: Oeuvre

Raoul De Keyser: Oeuvre | Books

David Zwirner is an art gallery with locations in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Hong Kong. We present physical and online exhibitions, podcasts, books, and more.