 (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

Kasper König

Jef Van Eynde

Barbara Weiss

Afterword by Barbara Weiss, Kasper König. Photographs by Jef Van Eynde.

In the summer of 2012, the acclaimed Belgian painter Raoul De Keyser (1930-2012) was preparing a show with David Zwirner, planned for March 2013. His friend, the photographer Jef Van Eynde, visited him that summer. “We were allowed to take a look at a new series of small paintings in his studio,” Van Eynde recalls in his postscript to this volume. “In their startling simplicity, these had been reduced right down to the essential. Some of them just had an oversized hook for a hanger, with the canvas simply wrapped around a wooden board.” De Keyser died in October 2012, and Van Eynde’s photographs of the paintings and the titular wall upon which they were arranged are the only documentation of his intentions for the Zwirner show. This intimate volume gathers these alongside portraits of De Keyser at home and in his studio.

Raoul De Keyser: The Last Wall

Raoul De Keyser: The Last Wall | 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.