Pol Fraiture

Pol Fraiture was born on 17 December 1946 in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium. He began painting when he was child. From the age of thirteen, he won several art competitions. He studied at the "Académie royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles" (great distinction in drawing and graphic arts) and at the "Beaux-Arts de Paris" (‘‘Fine Arts, Paris’’) (decorative arts, art history). In 1975 he took part in "Art pour Tous" in Brussels and was awarded one Golden Medal (Jury Award) and two Silver Medals (Press and Public Awards). He exhibited for the first time in an art gallery of Namur (Belgium) at the age of nineteen, and then regularly in Brussels, Antwerp, Knokke, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam, Nassau, and the United States. Most of Fraiture’s works are oils on canvas. His monotypes usually show another, more tormented, side of his personality. In his early paintings, he builds up compositions in fingertip-size stabs or thick scrawls, etching in outlines with delicacy, the subject, almost invisible at first in the overall impression of colour, emerging slowly. In his later paintings, he ‘engraves’ the subject in fresh colour. They reveal a harmonious blending of shades and nuances. His works represent an exploratory journey. The spectator discovers them, gradually apprehending, on closer examination, the original vision of the artist, which captivates with the vibrant harmony of its colours. His oils on canvas show his love of nature. Luminist, colorist, both abstract and figurative, Fraiture’s work is not part of any art movement. He created his own style, his own personal technique. His major work is "Bruxelles intemporelle". It is part of a set of works entitled "One-way journey". The concepts of the future, space and timelessness fascinate him.