The lines of a Belgian life

Maurice Van Saene began his training in the studios of Schaerbeek and Paris, moving between the classrooms of Sint-Lukas and the Institut National des Beaux-Arts during the late 1930s and early 1940s. His early years were spent observing the weight of figures and the stillness of still lifes. In Brussels, he shared a studio with J. Brusselmans, where they worked alongside the same models, capturing the volume of a form through a single, striking line. This period was marked by an interest in Flemish expressionism, focusing on the relief and profile of the subjects before him.

His hands were as active in printmaking as they were with a brush. He worked through woodcuts, lithography, and silkscreen, leaving behind marks on handmade papers that mirrored his interest in texture. In 1945, he received the Godecharle Prize, a recognition that came while he was teaching drawing and applied arts in Leuven.

A shift toward the horizon

As years passed, the focus of his work drifted away from the human figure and toward the landscape. The compositions became less about the physical presence of a subject and more about the arrangement of space. This evolution led him toward abstraction, where the edges of objects began to soften into broader shapes.

By 1965, a specific pull toward the sea took hold of his practice. He did not seek to paint traditional seascapes with waves or foam; instead, he sought the concentration of the sea itself. His later works often appear as accumulations of horizontal color areas and stripes. These bands of color seem to extend beyond the edges of the paper, stopped only by the physical limit of the frame. In these pieces, the sea is reduced to its most sober essence, stripped of detail until only the weight of the color remains.

A legacy in pigment and print

His teaching career spanned decades, from his time at the Academy in Leuven to his long tenure at Sint-Lukas in Schaerbeek, where he taught drawing and painting until 1984. His work left traces in many Belgian institutions, with pieces held in collections in Antwerp, Aalst, Bruges, Ypres, Brussels, Liège, and Ostend.

Beyond the canvas, his contributions included large-scale projects like the fresco paintings for the pavilion Civitas Dei at the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels. His technical range remained broad until the end of his life:

• Graphic works: Woodcuts, lithographs, and screen prints on Zerkall Bütten paper.
• Subject matter: A progression from figures and nudes to landscapes and abstract maritime forms.
• Notable recognitions: The Godecharle Prize of 1945.