Let's not keep silent about beauty in art. Stefaan Eyckmans, a contemporary Belgian figurative painter, is a case in point. He is a Flemish realist still life painter that does justice to the painting tradition of his ancestors. Mr Eyckmans kindly answered some questions that I consider fundamental in establishing an artist's approach towards art. As his favourite artist Mr Eyckmans chose none other that Jan Van Eyck, citing also Johannes Vermeer, Giorgio Morandi, Jan Davidszoon de Heem and Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. When asked which one art work he would choose as his favourite, Mr Eyckmans answered that it would be the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, while stating that other choices would be the Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan by Giovanni Bellini and still lifes by Chardin and others.

When asked what inspires him, Mr Eyckmans responded that he is mostly inspired by 'the light that travels through the composition, the influence the objects have on each other due to this light, the reflections, the soft and colourful shades due to the diffuse daylight'. Finally, the painter was asked if beauty is important in art. Honestly, I chose questions that even if answered with one word, would have a powerful effect. I wanted to make it easier for the artist. But Mr Eyckmans produced quite an eloquent answer:

'Beauty is very important to me and to my art. I refuse to accept the contemporary adagio of the intellectualization of art, where beauty is not important anymore but other things like shocking, being original and conceptual, etc. ... A painting can provoke many emotions but we appreciate it through sensory perception. So beauty relates to ugliness like other sensory perceptions: silence/noise, pleasure/pain, etc. It's the same with music: I refuse to listen to false tones just because the critics tell me there's a reason and story behind that, it hurts my ears and I prefer harmony ... as I prefer looking at beauty as well'.

 Stefaan Eyckmans, Limes in Chinese Bowl