From his debut in 1964, the widely beloved Belgian painter Raoul de Keyser (1930-2012) pursued and developed a unique compositional sensibility in which distinctions between abstraction and figuration were to dissolve in an intimate, humble sensation of "everydayness." His modestly scaled paintings featured simple but elusive shapes often rendered in a broadly pastel palette, full of gentle sensuality.

This 240-page volume accompanies the first posthumous retrospective exhibition on de Keyser (opening at the Stedelijk Museum in 2018), and is conceived as the new standard de Keyser monograph. Alongside a detailed account of the development of his art, it contains a comprehensive illustrated chronology, as well as a revelatory chapter on his drawing and photography. Friends and admirers of de Keyser's, such as Tomma Abts, Maria Eichhorn, Werner Feiersinger, Suzan Frecon, Roland Jooris, Thomas Scheibitz and James Welling, contribute comments on his life and work.