Artist Spotlight: Jean De Clercq at the Contemporary Art Fair Luzern 2025
- Asya Haroutunian
- Oct 1, 2025
- 1 min read
Visitors to the Contemporary Art Fair Luzern 2025 this October will meet Belgian-born artist Jean De Clercq, whose paintings often blur the line between art and photography. Seen from afar, his works look like photographs; only on closer inspection does the eye register the brushstrokes, the subtle play of light, and his painter’s hand.
De Clercq, who has lived in Nidwalden for more than two decades, has long been fascinated by precision and perspective. A trained chef by profession, he found balance in drawing and later studied graphics at the Art Academy in Belgium, mastering woodcuts, engravings, and lithography.
After moving to Switzerland in 1986, he gradually shifted toward painting, carrying forward the discipline of his graphic training.
Landscapes, railway stations, and horse races have all found their way onto his canvas—subjects chosen for their detail, dynamism, and overlooked beauty. His style, which he himself calls “hyperrealism,” draws inspiration from artists such as Mike Dargas, Jung Hwan, and Gioacchino Passini.
He last exhibited with us at the Christmas Exhibition in Zug in December 2023. At Contemporary Art Fair Luzern 2025, De Clercq will present new works that continue his exploration of realism—paintings so finely detailed that they often appear photographic at first glance.
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