Marcel HOCQ "Nude and man with bowler hat" painting oil on canvas, mounted on canvas

Marcel Hocq is a self-taught Belgian Expressionist painter, sculptor and ceramist, born in 1933. After gradually freeing himself from various artistic currents, his work finally conveys the full force of a renewed expressionism through solidly structured paintings whose "sobriety of means accentuates the poetic climate". Although he draws nostalgic inspiration from childhood memories (funfairs, merry-go-rounds, circuses, engagements and weddings), and is fond of animals (cats, goats and horses), the woman nevertheless remains the center of his preoccupations; he depicts her with an impassive, serene face, lit only by large, vague eyes that stare into the distance. His paintings, exhibited both in Belgium and abroad, can be found in private collections (Belgium, France, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Spain) and public collections (Belgian State, Walloon Region, Province of Namur, towns of Kaprijke, Sambreville).