Jan Frans De Boeverartist • painterGent 1872-1949 Gent

Jan Frans De Boever was a well-known Belgian Symbolist. After his studies at the Ghent academy, he initially painted women and nudes in a warm palette. Around 1909 his work changed radically. From that time on he paints bizarre and morbid depictions of temptresses, prostitutes and skeletons, in which the woman is depicted as the bearer of evil. In 1914 he started illustrating Charles Baudelaire's 'Les Fleurs du mal' for the wealthy Belgian collector Speltinckx. Once he had found his own style, he continued on that path, independent of the artistic innovations of his time. De Boever had great success with his work but was rather vain and full of himself, leading a rather isolated life.