Untitled, 1996, exemplifies D’Hollander’s masterful command of colour and composition. The gouache’s purple, black and cream ‘stripes’ are juxtaposed against a semi-transparent blue. The lines fluctuate in and out of legibility, suggesting a window and its frame, a common motif in D’Hollander’s practice.
In her short life, Ilse D’Hollander (1968–1997) created an intelligent, sensual and highly resonant body of work, drawing upon her impressions and experience of place, particularly the Flemish countryside where she spent the last, highly productive years of her life.
Painted in the last month of D’Hollander’s life before her untimely death, Untitled is a primary example of the artist’s steadfast commitment to painting as an intellectual and emotional endeavour. Though D’Hollander only had one solo exhibition in her lifetime, recent attention is rightfully placing her as one of the great abstractionists of the 20th century.
D’Hollander was born in the Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. She graduated from the Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp, in 1988, and the Hoger Instituut voor Beeldende Kunsten, St Lucas, Gent, in 1991. During her lifetime, a solo exhibition was held at In Den Bouw, Kalken, in 1996. Posthumous solo exhibitions have been held at Victoria Miro, London (2018),White House Gallery, Leuven (2017); Sean Kelly Gallery, New York (2017); Sean Kelly Gallery, New York (2016); FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand (2016); Konrad Fischer Galerie, Berlin (2014); Sofie Van de Velde Gallery, Antwerp (2014); M Museum, Leuven (2013); Geukens & De Vil, Antwerp (2010); Lucas De Bruycker Gallery, Ghent (2004). Works by Ilse D’Hollander are in various international collections including Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium, FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France and SFMOMA San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, among others.