Saturday, December 8, 2007

Very Important Paintings - Karl Meersman


It doesn’t happen so often to me, but my first reaction when I looked in the new book of Karl was really “wow! fantastic!” And I mean it. ‘Very Impressive Portraits’ (also VIP) that’s the least you can state.
In the introduction, Patrick Duynslaegher calls him ‘the last craftsman’. There are no computers involved! Very honorable is that Karl never wants to offend or scandalize the people he paints, that's to easy. That’s not his way to associate with people. For that reason Karl likes more talking about ‘portraits’ than ‘caricatures’.

Because there was the exhibition of Karl’s VIPS paintings in Gent, I took a look myself. Though I knew the paintings from the book, it was a real pleasure to see the originals. I asked the other people in the exhibition what their impression was. They all agreed: Karl Meersman is an extraordinary talented craftsman. They all enjoyed the exhibition. If the World Olympic Games in China had a discipline for illustrators, we should certainly send Karl. I’m sure, he’s a potential gold medal winner !

“VIP’s is the first collection of Karl Meersman’s remarkable drawings, based on the fascinating (and at times) Laughable world of film, music and television. With these ‘Very Important Paintings’ Karl manages to put into perspective the doings of the Great of the Earth and reduce them to the statue of small, anecdotal passers-by… Life on the red carpet, as revealed by more than 100 artistic gems. Karl Meersman is the artist in residence for Focus-Knack an Trends Magazine.” (Belgium)

Are you looking for an original present for under the X-mas tree or for New Year, VIPS is a good choice!

(with thanks to Roularta Books and Karl Meersman)

Read and learn more:

Visit the site of Karl Meersman (recommended!)
My photo report - pics with comments
The Exhibiton -ended dec 9- use Google Translate
Karl at Press Cartoon Belgium
Roulartabooks.be

[VIPS cartoonbook file]

2 comments:

Saskia en Fernand said...

I also like Karl Meersmans work very much. His portrets are real pieces of art. It's a lot more than a carticature! We'll buy that book.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to Jan kind generousness, I was pleased to read this excellent collection of charged portraits. It would take too long to list all the works that deserve to be applauded. Beside the ones on show here, his Clint Eastwood, Elton John, Tony Blair and many other are particularly successful. Such proficiency and accuracy are really impressive. Of course, all these “Very Important Paintings” have different qualities and the artist can vary his style and the staging of each art work. But, to be complete, one must also says that in very few portraits, he hasn’t been able (or unwilling) to capture the exact likeness (i.e. Jacques Brel, yet where the movement is beautiful!). Let's say the yin must always needs a drop yang.
Anyway, it's a wonderful book which I recommend purchase.