Kamiel Riske, Pictures of Art Work from the USA :)

Kamiel Riske, Pictures of Art Work from the USA :)
Hello,

I have pictures of paintings and a sketch. The sketch is signed by Kamiel. There is one painting that is signed. This painting I don t believe is buy Kamiel. The signature says Sabbermans 1943 . the other paintings have no signatures. All the pieces are of my Father. He was born in Antwerp on 11/25/26 his name is Marc Hertsens. He was in the Belgium Army and immigrated to America by ship to Ellis Island in 1949. My name is Sten Hertsens and am 45. I live in Montana. No I m not a Cowboy. I do alot of Bike racing. I guess it s in my blood from my Father. I d like to get to Belgium one of these days and do some Cyclocross racing. The fans are great over there and cheer the racers on, more than in the USA. OK back to the art work. I have number the pictures so they will correspond to my descriptions. #1 is a sketch which is signed by Kamiel is 10 1/2 x 15 3/4 . It s framed under glass. All the paintings are oil and not framed. #2 25 1/2 x 31 1/4 not signed. #3 25 1/2 x 31 1/2 signed Sabbermans 1943 . #4 13 1/2 x 18 3/8 not signed. #5 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 not signed. From My Fathers date of birth (11/25/26), when he immagrated and the signed Sabbermans 1943 you can figure out how old Kamiel was. The sketch lokks like he s older. The smallest looks like he s younger. The 1943 piece would put Kamiel at the age of 22. I hope this will be added to his Gallery and with his Artwork time line. I would be interested to hear about what he might have be like at that time and possibly the relationship with my father or Family members. Take care and have a nice Day. Sten

Kamiel’s poem

Kamiel’s poem
(Tribute to Mr. Kamiel Riské - 1921-1999) (painter unknown to the public)


Painting your silent life
Was a way to speak your mind
About the puzzling world
Both loved and unloved

The wonderful pictures in your brain
Painted on canvas in a most
Meticulous way
Dear uncle, you can be sure

Your thoughts are here to stay
For they are worth to be captured
By eternity
In a way you would have
Appreciated for new technologies

Always made you keen
To attempt something new
Capturing landscapes was just a start
Copying the classics an art college boy’s gig
Riding your moped
Brought the more magnificent

Figures to be encountered
Unfamiliar enigmas
Those women seemingly
Without shame
Strolling the streets of
The first district
Will now always remain

For they were the last phenomena
You left behind
Often misunderstood
Even you were not to
Comprehend you had
More in common
On account of being
Simultaneously misunderstood

Yesterday's entry - mature content or not?

After I'd published yesterday's entry I got in a reflective mood. Is the picture of the painting I published and the explanation underneath to be considered as mature content or not.
Basically, the nude lady is just a nude lady, not engaged in any activity.
In some countries similar paintings would be considered pornographic, in other's they can be found in main stream galleries.

Often I find looking at a painting is like reading a book: sometimes you have to read between the lines or when observing a painting, look at the details, interaction between characters. You might be surprised what you find out about the artist.

The gallery goes on!

It's a long time since I paid Kamiel a visit over here.

In the mean time I did discover some of his other long lost works!

Hmm, this clearly is a red light district painting again, talking to my relatives, I did gain some insight into Kamiel's attitudes towards women. From what you can read in previous posts, Kamiel often felt betrayed by women and never really found a way to deal with his feelings other than painting.

I think this is a shame because he was a nice man who had a lot more to offer than he was able to show. Sometimes I get sad while watching these kind of paintings. I know where the artist's feelings were coming from: a deep lack of appreciation, being judged for what he wasn't good at and not getting the attention he deserved. In this period of his life, he was getting back at all those that had hurt him, but I do understand that these pictures can be hurtful to others as well!

Christmas with Kamiel ...

As I've told you before, Kamiel was quite a character...

When I was a little girl, we celebrated Christmas at my aunt's, Kamiel's sister in law. She's 82 now, going on 83! In fact, she inspired me to create this blog entirely in honour of Kamiel!

I don't know what Kamiel would have thought seeing his pictures online, but he did love celebrating Christmas! He enjoyed good food and loved the odd prank. Usually, my granddad was the so called victim, but in reality, they had a good understanding and were as bad as each other ...

I was like 4 or 5 years old at the time, but until today I'm still able to visualize their pranks. Some people might be shocked by they behaviour, but everybody had a good time laughing at their practical jokes ...

You must be curious by now! Well my granddad and Kamiel enjoyed teasing each other by stealing food of each other's plates which every year lead to hilarious situations ... Consequently they would love to play to be mad at each other and sometimes my granddad (27/03/1900 - 23/12/1976) would tease Kamiel by trying to steal his hearing aid. This may seem cruel to you, but as strange as it seems, they liked each other and treated each other as equals and not as being old or handicapped!

While reading this post, I discover that today it's exactly 30 years ago my granddad died.
I'd like this post to be a tribute to both Kamiel and my granddad!

Kamiel's holiday...

It's been a long time since I last worked on Kamiel's blog.
I decided it would be nice to give Kamiel a holiday! In between all the painting he has done throughout his life, I know he enjoyed daytrips to the seaside and holidays in the company of his parents.

Since I last posted here, I discovered some nice holiday pictures featuring Kamiel and family. I'll pick some good one and show them here as soon as possible!

And still more sketches where this came from

Sketches' gallery

[Geeks are Sexy] technology news: Free Logo Design for You!

[Geeks are Sexy] technology news: Free Logo Design for You!
I think Kamiel was very special and his art will always remain very special to me. So I entered this blog in a competition in order to obtain a customized logo that would do Kamiel proud!

Sketches' gallery going on

Sketches' gallery part going on

Sketches' gallery part going on

Sketches' gallery

Ongoing gallery ..

The sketchbook proved to be a little treasure! There's more where this came from!

Mini gallery part 2

Mini gallery

Mini paintings part 2

More mini paintings

I wonder if someone recognizes these locations, please notify me!

Mini paintings

From sketch till painting, part 2

These are some of Kamiel's early works. As you can see, he didn't work on canvas yet, but made little paintings in his sketchbook!

Did anyone buy Kamiel's paintings?

Yes, Kamiel actually did get in contact with people who were interested in buying his painting. Because in his view, there were not many people you could trust in this world, he only sold works to people he particularly liked, or who were very nice to him.

In case anyone reading this blog, owns a painting or any other work by Kamiel Riske, we would very much like to know!

City views: opposites attract

The pictures we took of Kamiel's work were pretty much taken in the order he produced them.

In this way we are able to reconstruct not only the evolution of his works but also his view on life itself.

His vision of life might not seem a happy one to you.

Maybe, you are wondering if anyone was interested in his works?

Back to the ciy

Do you also recognize some elements of the early skethes?

And some figures depicted in the later works begin to emerge!

Country landscapes

Kamiel's life outside the city of Antwerp.

As you could notice before, Kamiel didn't only created city views, but also landscapes and nature views.
During Word War II, Kamiel was still being protected by his 4-year younger brother Henry while they went on smuggling trips in the country, asking farmers for food. Though Kamiel was a physically very strong man, it was his younger brother Henry who would gather most of the food on those trips...
After an hour of walking, Kamiel would claim to be tired and sat himself at the side of the road, in order to ... paint of course!
What were you thinking?

Painting, Antwerp city street leading to the museum 'Vleeshuis'

Blue ink drawing, Antwerp city view 2

Blue ink drawing, Antwerp city view

Sepia sketch of an Abbey view

More of the 1st district

More sketches

This could be a perfect draft for a painting of Antwerp's 1st district!

Sketches' gallery part 2

I like these images. They seem to be made in and around an old abbey.

Some abbeys used to provide small houses for the nuns living on their grounds.

In Dutch, those grounds are known as 'begijnhoven'

According to the information I got from Kamiel's next of kin, this could be the 'begijnhof' in Lier near Antwerp.

In case you should recognize places depicted in http://kamielart.blogspot.com, please place a comment under the place you recognize!

Sketches' gallery

Draft and original reunited!

Do you see the resemblence?

It's not quite the same, but the sketch was a nice inspiration!

Another early draft

We know that these sketches were used to create paintings afterwards.

I wonder if we'll find the painting that belongs to this original sketch....

Another early sketch

Along the river Scheldt

From sketch till painting

Three stages: a windmill from sketch till painting!