Richard Simoens

During his childhood, Richard Simoens (Deinze, 1947-) and his parents visited Roger Raveel and his wife Zulma in Machelen-aan-de-Lei, Belgium. Raveel was the nephew of Simoens’ mother and the former neighbour and childhood friend of his father. At the age of twelve, Simoens was already following evening classes at the Art Academy of Deinze. In 1963, Raveel began to teach classes at this evening school and stimulated Simoens, who had dropped out of school, to take his painting class. Therafter, he took classes at the Royal Academy in Ghent and followed education classes in Plastics Arts at the ‘Rijksnormaalschool’ in Ghent.

Richard Simoens is highly influenced by Roger Raveel’s visual renewal, known as ‘The New Vision’, that he lead in the 60s. As Simoens’ work evolves, he creates his own distinct signature.
Exhibitions