9 - JORIS HOUWEN (1925–1998) — "Young Blonde Woman with a Glass of Champagne" — oil on canvas — signed — large painting — 92 x 73 cm

JORIS HOUWEN (1925–1998) — "Young Blonde Woman with a Glass of Champagne" — oil on canvas — signed — large painting — 92 x 73 cm Joris Houwen 1925–1998 (a pseudonym for Georges Houwen) was a self-taught, non-conformist Belgian painter. Between 1955 and 1960, he ran the artists’ pub ‘t Kroegske, located on Sint-Paulusstraat in Ostend. His style is post-expressionist, and several of his works are held at the Ostend-Mer Art Museum. The tone of the exhibitions organised by Houwen between 1957 and 1962 was distinctly Flemish. His career flourished and he exhibited in Brussels (La Madeleine), Ronse (Café Vrede-gerecht on the Bruul), Hasselt (Helikon), Ghent (Vyncke-Van Eyck) and Antwerp (Breckpot). In May 1968, Countess Hélène du Sart de Bouland welcomed him to the Château des Trois Rois in Beernem. There he rubbed shoulders with the writers Bertien Buyl and Paul Lebeau, the painters Jack Godderis, Godfried Vervisch and Frans Minnaert, the sculptor Géo Vindevogel, the cartoonist Marc Sleen, the actor and director Marc Leemans, the composer Herman Roelstraete and the Belgian Horn Quartet. There he met the former regent, Prince Charles, who had come to attend this famous artistic weekend. Houwen must have felt right at home there.