Etching
artist Hugo Besard spends his early days in Kraainem and
around the 'Zoniënwoud' in Brussels. From 1974 to
1979 on, he studies free etching techniques on the Royal
Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. On the National Higher
Institute of Antwerp, Besard completes his studies from 1979
to 1982 on, where he finishes his courses as a laureate.
At this very moment, Besard teaches
'Press etching techniques' on the departement of free
etching techniques in the Higher School in Antwerp. He also
gives classes on the departement 'Audiovisual and Picturing
Arts' on the Academy of Antwerp and on the Royal Academy
for Fine Arts, also in the city of Antwerp.
Hugo Besard gets eighteen national
and international prizes and distinctions, especially the
prize 'Jonge Belgische Grafiek', prize 'Province Antwerp',
prize 'Joris Minne' and the prize 'Society Eugène Baie'.
He is also a laureate in the international etching competition
'Hunt and Nature'.
In 1980, Besard follows an
apprenticeship in Milan, Italy in the studio 'Edizioni d'Arte
Grafico Uno' and in 1982 in 'Lacourière et Frélaut' in Paris,
France. He also travels to Slowakije in 1988, to follow an
apprenticeship with professor Albin Brunovsky. In 1993, he is
a guest professor at the 'Accademia di belle Arti di Carrara'
in Italy.
On his New Years card of 1999,
Jan Van Pelt describes the personality and the work of etcher
Hugo Besard in these words ... Not nature, but the mysterious
power behind it, Eros, the love to be alive, these are the
elements who get Hugo Besard so far to discover and know the
complexity of the world between the silence before you were born
and the silence that appears when you are death. With virtuous
hands he expresses this world in allegories and harmonies.
The plants and animals who live in his work tell us the moving,
truly fantastic stories about life and death, manhood and
womanliness, fertility and poorness, joy and pain, fear and safety.
The smallest vibration, so vulnerable, he catches with the eye
of an eagle. Anecdotal when he mocks with it. Great when he keeps
his wrath. Serene and respectful when he touches the core ...
Animals and plants are very important
in the work of Hugo Besard. That relationship with nature is
born in is childhood. Around the 'Zoniënwoud', he discovers
nature while he is playing. The circle of the seasons and the
circular course of life fascinates him very much. To be born,
grow up, create new life and to die ..., as a child he already
has an endless appreciation for a perfect harmony in which it
all seems to become one.
A lot of expositions follow in
Belgium and foreign countries, for instance Breda, Utrecht,
Borne, New Delhi, Praag, Jihlava - Moravië, Piestiena - Slowakije,
Jerevan - Armenië, Rennes - France and Portugal.
Several works are bought by the Belgian
Government, the Flemish departement and Province and the OCMW
of Antwerp. A couple of cities and towns also buy his works, for
instance Brasschaat, Brussels, Gent, Mechelen, Menen and Schoten.
His etchings are also purchased in private collections and companies.
Two biographies about the work of Hugo
Besard are already published.
