Baron in Al Held-Veld 1966

Raoul De Keyser made Baron in Al Held-Veld with paint, it looks like, but what kind? Oil? Acrylic? I don't know but it is fun trying to guess. The painting feels like a fleeting moment captured in simple strokes. Look at that bright yellow background, almost like a stage, and the dog, rendered in quick, almost cartoonish brushstrokes. The way the dog sits on the cusp of this light green triangular shape, which is outlined in blue, as if trying to escape, is very appealing to me. It is as if the artist is capturing the movement of the dog, this kind of frozen action, capturing a particular attitude. De Keyser reminds me a little of Giorgio Morandi in the sense that he takes on a very limited and specific range of subjects, exploring their nuances through subtle variations in color, composition, and brushwork. Like Morandi, De Keyser shows how much can be said with very little.