Splendid Isolation started to take form the moment Verkaeren got inspired by ‘Walden’, a book written in 1845 by the then 28 year-old Harvard-educated poet and philosopher, Henri David Thoreau. Verkaeren was profoundly fascinated by this essay questioning the constantly demanding system of society which is actually not that different from the system we live in today.

As a silent critic of society, Verkaeren decided to seclude himself from it. Such isolation break from the world was his way to find and reconnect with his own identity as an artist and human being. Carefully documenting his observations and emotions, the canvas became his journal.

Drawn to the unspoiled nature of South America, he made plans to travel to Colombia to find a remote lake house. As usual, most plans never work out as planned… He ended up in an old coffee farm in the rain forest of the Sierra Nevada in Santa Marta. This primitive shelter without electricity became his studio for the next two months.

In April 2019 Verkaeren returned to South America. The plan emerged to organise an artist residency at the former studio of Ana Mercedes Hoyos in Bogota. As the exact memory of the shapes and plants from the Sierra Nevada faded away, the emotions and the sensations of the light from his seclusion in the jungle remained. This light in these imaginary landscapes became a symbol of his escape from the green cage, the surrendering to the light to become free.

‘Landscapes will always be the same, but the eyes that behold them will differ. This again, is the case with this young, passionate, Belgian painter, always willing to be dazzled by what he sees and in return stunning the spectator with his findings.’ - Ramon Cote Baraibar