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WALTER DOLPHYN | Jokers Wild
Oil on Board
31½" x 27½" / 80 x 70 cms
A selection of toys displayed on blue shelving.
Despite his artistic upbringing, Walter initially decided to pursue a career in the printing trade, which he completed his training for in 1983, after a period of national service.
Walter executed a small number of still lifes in 1984 and 1985, but any real artistic intention remained in the distant future.
Despite his unmistakable talent, Walter’s early artistic achievements were limited to a number of drawings and illustrations for birth announcements, wedding cards, and advertisements.
After five unsuccessful attempts to take classes in drawing and painting at the Academy of Berchem in Antwerp, Walter continued to work in the printing trade for six years, first with the Antwerp provincial authorities and then with a banking firm.
Born in Antwerp in 1963, Walter Dolphyn grew up in an artistic milieu. His father Willem, grandfather Victor, the esteemed artist and former professor at the Antwerp Royal Academy of Arts, and his great-uncle Denis were all painters, each with their own distinctive styles.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Walter chose to pursue the art of still life painting, but with a focus on collectible items: toys, figurines, gadgets, and miniatures, all vividly rendered with exquisite painterly precision.
The art of narrative is at the heart of Walter’s practice. Jokingly self-styled as the Hieronymous Bosch of his age, above all Walter aims to tell stories.
Inspired by the toys or figures themselves or by an everyday observation, he then directs the protagonists, sometimes solitary, sometimes in various surreal combinations, often poised mid-action, or crowded into vitrines and onto shelves.
His paintings are intricately detailed and strive to render the qualities of different materials.
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