Vic Gentils was a Belgian artist born in 1919 in Ilfracombe Great Britain and died in 1997 in Aalst. He was a painter, assembler and sculptor. He studied at the Academy in Antwerp. As an apprentice in a decorating studio in Antwerp, he gained a wealthy knowledge regarding the use of materials and techniques. He studied painting at the Higher Institute in Antwerp under direction of Is. Opsomer. He made his debut as a painter and draftsman, influenced by expressionism and soon based on neo-surrealism. After twenty years he gave up painting for a special type of sculpture: harmonic assemblies of objects. In 1957 the first reliefs were created in metal on wood and the first abstract writing nailed in boards on boards. In 1961 the first compositions were created in the space. He then used existing objects or fragments of them, such as frames, typewriters, pianos, with which he composed original Baroque compositions. The mutilated remains of machines, furniture and frames seem to bear witness to a deep-rooted sacral feeling. Was co-founder of the "Hessenhuis G 58" Group in 1958, co-founder of "The New Flemish School" in 1960. From the press: “In the 1960s, V.G. as an assembly artist. He processed lists of old paintings, wreck wood and fragments of furniture into abstract, black-burned compositions and reliefs. Rhythmic compositions were created by the parallelism between the assembled pieces. About the same period he started to dismantle pianos. With those parts he put together brown or colorful reliefs. Afterwards he made three-dimensional sculptures or objects with fragments of old furniture. Figures and portraits such as those of P. Delvaux, C. Permeke or C. Huysmans emerged from a heterogeneous arsenal of objects. In his oeuvre a metamorphosis takes place by sandblasting the material, painting it and placing it in a new context." His masterpieces include his statue of Lode Craeybeckx and the sculpture group "The Great Chess Game". Was a diverse artist who also made jewelery, small sculptures, paintings, collages, lithographs, tapestries and more. Work in the Museums in Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Ostend. Listed in BAS I and II. (PIRON)
