Yvan Theys ‘Freedom Taken Away’ (Tokyo Biennale) expressionist painting, oil on canvas, 1983

“De Vrijheid Ontvoerd” or “Freedom Abducted” is an outstanding example of Yvan Theys' unique style. He was close to Roger Raveel, Reinier Lucassen, Alfons Freijmuth, Eugène Leroy and Eugène Dodeigne, but his expressionist and figurative style is unmistakenly his and unique and does not belong to any particular movement. Theys studied from 1956 to 1958 at the Sint-Lucas Art Academy in Tournai (Doornik). In 1959, he had his first solo exhibition in Kortrijk and succeeded his mentor, Eugène Dodeigne, at the academy, where he became a lecturer in expressive drawing. By the age of twenty-five, he gained initial recognition for work that was initially in the vein of Cobra before transitioning into the style of New Figuration. In 1964, he won the Prix de Rome and a medal from the European Prize for Painting, awarded by the city of Ostend (Oostende). Later in the 1960s, he was regarded—alongside Roger Raveel, Raoul De Keyser, and Etienne Elias—as a representative of the 'New Vision', a more Flemish-oriented movement. His paintings tackled themes from global events, daily life, and universal subjects such as male-female relationships. His figures were rendered emotionally, often fragmented, and sometimes from shifting perspectives. In his later work, he also reinterpreted famous pieces from art history, including works by Pablo Picasso and Edvard Munch. Theys embarked on numerous study trips, collected Japanese prints, and enriched his oeuvre with painted wooden sculptures, assemblages, and bronzes that oscillated between figuration and abstraction. This particular work featured in the Tokyo Biënnale.