For a solo expo Franciscus was asked to show a completely different side of himself. With ink on paper he made a series of ‘quick’ and direct drawings with Romanticism as the main source of inspiration (see Drawing). This was a big contrast from his paintings, as his paintings are built up in many layers and are therefore very time-consuming to make. It gave him the idea to also make paintings in mere grey tones.
As one uses the glazing colour layers over ones grisailles to obtain contrast and depth, grayscale in a painting of black and white has to be coordinated much more sophisticatedly, so that figures remain separate from the background and from each other. It is comparable to minutely printing a photo in a dark room so that all parts are in balance with each other. Paintings in colour and black and white that are exhibited together reinforce each other. They illuminate Franciscus’ 'stories'; each in their own way complement each other and thus enrich the entire oeuvre.
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Mary Grooteman
Rienus Gundel
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