Hugo Claus

In 2024, the Maurice Verbaet Gallery in Knokke presented a solo exhibition dedicated to the visual work of Hugo Claus (1929–2008), one of the most multifaceted figures in Belgian post-war culture.

While widely known to the general public as a writer and poet, Claus was also a remarkably gifted visual artist. Throughout his career, he developed an extensive body of visual work, and this exhibition—bringing together over 160 drawings, watercolours, collages, and gouaches—offered a representative overview of this lesser-known aspect of his oeuvre.

Claus’s drawings can be understood as a visual extension of his poetry. Where words reach their limits, his images seek further precision. His drawings and gouaches function as annotations to his poems—carried by them, yet exploring what lies beyond language. In this way, his visual work sharpens and complements the baroque intensity of his writing.

Like a Renaissance artist, simultaneously active across multiple disciplines, Hugo Claus embodied a true artistic polymath. Painter, draftsman, writer, and thinker, he navigated seamlessly between different forms of expression, creating a rich and interconnected body of work.

MVGallery, Knokke (2018-2025)