Christian Silvain

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christian Silvain

Christian Gohimont (pseudonym: Christian Silvain ; born March 6, 1950 in Eupen ) is a Belgian painter and graphic artist .

Live and act

Silvain grew up in Eupen under difficult conditions, as his parents were constantly fighting and neglecting their son. At the age of three he was therefore taken in by two great aunts in Eupen, who ran a bag and toy shop across from St. Nicholas Church . Two years later his parents divorced and Silvain stayed with his aunts. The inside of the house was adorned with numerous pictures and the young Christian took an interest in drawing and tracing these pictures. With the visit to the school in Spa his talent was discovered and promoted by the teachers.

Between 1964 and 1966 his two great aunts died and Silvain broke up completely with his family. He moved to Brussels penniless and initially found a temporary job at Theater De Munt , where he met Maurice Béjart and Jacques Brel and became friends with them. However, his main interest was still painting and after Silvain came across works by the Belgian painter Paul Delvaux , he began to delve into the techniques of painting on an autodidactic basis . Like his role model and long-time friend Delvaux, he preferred surrealism , but also tried to appropriate the Gothic and Renaissance styles . From 1970 he exhibited his works in Belgium, France, Germany and other countries and from 1975 he found his permanent sales agent in Guy Pieters for the next 30 years.

Have a nice couple of days

In the early 1980s, Silvain switched to the technique of photorealism and he created numerous facade paintings in the trompe l'œil style as well as graffiti . About ten years later he began to come to terms with his own difficult childhood by painting large canvases in the style of Pop Art , which he divided into squares and in which he depicted scenes about childhood and freedom, partly antiphrasic , partly behind grids similar to a symbolic bird cage . His works are full of disparate objects, broken toys or fragments of words such as "fear". In the beginning he often used strong shades of blue for his figures, which he applied in his later works in red or white paint against a dark background.

For almost thirty years Silvain dealt with this style, with which he tried to analyze, understand and finally express his childhood. In the meantime he has found his inner peace and the latest pictures are more optimistic.

His works were very well received and he was invited to numerous solo and group exhibitions as well as permanent exhibitions in many European countries.

In addition, in 1992 Silvain set up a foundation in his hometown of Eupen, which was supposed to support the promotion of his works and the creation of a museum in Eupen. In connection with this foundation, a permanent exhibition was installed at Stockem Castle between 2009 and 2013 .

Solo exhibitions (selection)

Portrait of Christian Silvain by Willy Bosschem, 1985
  • 1973: Galerie Bernier, Paris, France
  • 1982: Art Basel , Basel, Switzerland
  • 1991: Ludwig Forum for International Art , Aachen, Germany
  • 1992: Galerie du Center, Paris, France
  • 1995: Total Art Center, Tokyo, Japan
  • 1998: Grimaldi Castle and Christian Silvain Foundation, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France
  • 1999: Bowles Gallery, New York, USA
  • 2000: Galerie Mowatt au Canada, Canada
  • 2000: Galerie Lucien Schweitzer, Luxembourg
  • 2000: Mornings Gallery, Australia
  • 2005: Art & Stage, Silvain Foundation, Eupen, Belgium
  • 2006: Art Paris, Grand Palais , Paris, France
  • 2008: Estampes, Up-Art, Brussels, Belgium
  • 2013: Galerie Besseiche, Geneva, Switzerland
  • 2015: Galerie Martine Ehmer, Bruxelles
  • 2017: Malmundarium, Malmedy, Belgium
  • 2018: Galerie Fox, Eupen, Belgium

Group exhibitions (selection)

Fonts (selection)

  • En attendant ; illustrated poems, Grenz-Echo-Verlag Eupen 1994
  • Le magasin de jouets, essai d'autobiographie et trois entretiens avec Julien Christiaens , Grenz-Echo-Verlag Eupen 1999

Literature (selection)

  • J. Murez: Tekeningen van Christian Silvain , Art Editions, Ghent 1978
  • Marcel van Jole: Christian Silvain, Façades , Knokke-Zoute 1984
  • P. de Pessemier: Facades in het oeuvre van Christian Silvain , In: Magazine De Woonstede door de eeuwen heen ; trimester 2, no.74; Ayeneux; 1987; Pp. 46-67
  • André Parinaud: Christian Silvain , Galerie du center, Paris 1990
  • Wolfgang Becker: Christian Silvain, Les Prisonniers , Aachen 1991
  • A. Küchenberg, N. Kreusch, Baron S. Le Bailly de Tilleghem, G. Pieters, A. Radermecker: Foundation Christian Silvain , Grenz-Echo-Verlag, Eupen; 1995

Web links

Commons : Christian Silvain  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Silvain, Christian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gohimont, Christian (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian painter and printmaker
DATE OF BIRTH March 6, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Eupen