Roger Wittevrongel (born 23 April 1933) is a Belgian

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

, draughtsman and

graphic artist A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published me ...

, representative of the

hyperrealism Jean Baudrillard ( , , ; 27 July 1929 – 6 March 2007) was a French sociologist, philosopher and poet with interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as w ...

. Wittevrongel was born in

Blankenberge Blankenberge (; french: Blankenberghe; vls, Blanknberge) is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Blankenberge proper and the settlement of Uitkerke. On 1 December 2014, B ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. He received his education in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest i ...

, where he combined his studies at the

Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) The Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Ghent ( nl, Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Gent, KASK) is an art school that is one of the oldest art schools in Belgium. It is now part of the Hogeschool Gent. History The Academy was founded in 174 ...

(1953-1956) with a teacher training in plastic arts in the State School (1954-1956) under the guidance of Octave Landuyt. From 1956 up to 1971, he worked as a teacher in plastic arts at the State School in Ghent. Consequently, he was professor

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

, drawing and

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone ( lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...

at the Royal Academy for Fine Arts in Ghent until 1997, where he got the title of honorary professor since then. In 1954, Wittevrongel made his debut in the atmosphere of Octave Landuyt, yet more in an abstract way, with work around destruction, devastation and animal heads. Around 1964, he started to paint more figuratively, mainly architectural compositions decorated with vegetable elements and female nudes surrounded by a wide range of attributes (for example painting and drawing tools). Around 1970 he comes to a hyperrealistic style with an absolute accuracy in the reproduction of what the eye could see. However, he continued to evolve within this style and concentrated on trivial subjects, which he also depicted with the greatest precision. The subjects themselves - interiors, fragments of architecture and female characters, are treated as still-lives, which gives them an abstract quality. These works in particular raise questions concerning man's relationship with visible reality. Here the astonishment is less evoked by the technical virtuosity but more by the question of the meaning of existence. Roger Wittevrongel exhibits since 1954 in Belgium, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

. ;Prizes * Mention Young Belgian Painting Award in 1958, 1960, 1963 * Provincial painting prize of West Flanders in 1960 * Critics prize in 1979 and 1981 * E. Van Marcke prize in 1981 * State prize in recognition of an artistic career in 1984 At present he lives in Bachte-Maria-Leerne near the Lys, close to

Deinze Deinze () is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It comprises the city of Deinze, and the towns of Astene, Bachte-Maria-Leerne, Gottem, Grammene, Hansbeke, Landegem, Meigem, Merendree, Nevele, Petegem-aan-de-Lei ...

in the province of

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

in Belgium.

External links

Roger Wittevrongel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittevrongel, Roger Belgian artists Modern artists Belgian painters Photorealist artists Living people 1933 births Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Ghent) alumni