Frans Depooter

Who was Frans Depooter?

Frans Depooter, born in Mons, Belgium, in 1898, was a Belgian painter. He died in 1987 in Maffe at age 89.

Depooter began working at age 13 in his family’s business, where he met Anto-Carte, Léon Navez, and Léon Devos. In 1928, Depooter, Anto-Carte, Navez, and Devos became co-founders of the Groupe Nervia.

In 1923, Frans Depooter married the painter Andrée Bosquet, taking painting courses at the Art Schools of Mons and Brussels soon after. Recognized for his work, Depooter received several awards and held the position of Director of the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean Art School from 1944 onwards.

A poet at heart, Frans Depooter deepened his consistently representational style in accordance with his nature. His stylized still lifes, expressionist landscapes, and portraits gave way very early to refined works of an apparent simplicity. His portraits on plain backgrounds isolate themselves in the model’s dream or inner life. His flowers compose fragile and tender bouquets. His landscapes, often treated in half tints and transposed by a shaded light, testify to a discrete sensitivity. Frans Depooter’s talent displays a search for measure, refinement, and poetry.