Mathieu Bassez

Mathieu Bassez (°1969 Ghent, Flanders)

Mathieu Bassez grew up in Flanders, home to the Flemish primitives as well as Van Eyck, Rubens and Breughel. He started painting in his early teens but it was at university obtaining a Masters in Eastern Philology (Japanese cultural history and literature) and writing a thesis on Utamaro, the 19th Century Japanese painter of daily life scenery (the floating world) that his interest in art intensified. This culminated in his studying painting at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts.
After an exhibition in Osaka organised by the Belgian government, he quickly built up an international career closely cooperating with renowned international galleries.
Embracing his roots, Mathieu Bassez applies the authentic oil technique of the Italian and Flemish master painters, working on finely woven, handmade linen sourced from a centuries-old Flemish company. Painted in one fine layer of oil, the end result has the smoothness of an Old Master. Each painting has remarkable detail, inviting the onlooker to reach out, touch the canvas and step into it. His stay in Japan taught him to use a daring mix of a European renaissance technique and Asian purification, emphasizing the essence of the subject.
In 200...

Tokyo University of Fine Arts (Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku)

Cuadro Museum & Fine Art Gallery, Dubai
Meam Museum, Museo Europeo de Arte Moderno, Barcelona
Gallery Revel SOHO, New York
Art Gallery Tempera Place Royale, Brussels
Imperial Palace Hofburg, Vienna
Osaka International House, Osaka