Albert Willem, Part 2, January Joy, 2023

"Albert Willem's winter scenes are among the most popular with buyers, selling at an average of 10 to 15 times above their low estimates. Of Willem's top 5 highest sale prices, 4 of them are winter scenes." - James Kerbey, Expert at Maddox Advisory


Why Albert Willem?

Belgium (1979)
Albert Willem is a contemporary figurative artist from Brussels renowned for his naïve-style paintings brimming with wit and humor. Despite lacking any formal art training, he frequented galleries and museums and constantly perused art on social media. Though he was an avid drawer as a child, he didn't pick up a pencil from ages 12 to 36. University and family life diverted his attention from art, but about four years ago, Willem decided to create a painting to adorn his own home. Finding joy in the process, he has since been painting incessantly, devoting all his spare time to his art. He describes his return to art as a "midlife crisis."

Style
Over time, he has experimented with various mediums and styles, ranging from nail polish to spray paint to textile art. Presently, Willem primarily employs acrylic paint paired with a high gloss varnish, as he finds it yields the boldest colors. While most of his works are on canvas, the artist also repurposes cardboard from online purchases as his canvas. His artistic process is swift, completing his works within 48 hours at most.

About his paintings
His paintings are straightforward, unadorned, sometimes unfinished. On one hand, they boldly proclaim the artist's technical skills linger at an elementary level. On the other, he manages to capture the distilled, pure energy of a novice unburdened by the pressure of conforming to the canon, resulting in works devoid of pretense. His paintings depict everyday life in a light-hearted yet ironic manner, often sidestepping more intricate themes. They frequently portray humorous moments, such as people bickering at a wedding or an endless conga line. Drawing on humor to confront past and present fears, including a dread of dance floors, his painting style is heavily influenced by LS Lowry, James Ensor, and Breugel the Elder, infusing a sense of normalcy and primitivism with a 21st-century twist. Willem has exhibited his works in Germany, Russia, and Belgium.

The Infinite Conga
In January 2021, the artist embarked on painting a 'never-ending conga line.' In this piece, he arranges multiple pieces of cardboard side by side and paints a long, uninterrupted line of dancing figures. Continuously adding more pieces with more dancers extends the length of the conga line. The artwork can be divided for sale so that buyers may each possess segments of the dance and partake in the art collectively.

The Rise of a Star
Willem attributes social media as the primary influence on his artistic journey. He dedicates at least two hours daily to observing and learning from fellow artists. He asserts that by regularly encountering new art, his own art continually evolves. He continuously experiments with new styles, themes, and techniques. "Try out all kinds of things yourself, and then you will eventually arrive at a personal style." - Willem.

Presence at Auctions
Albert Willem's ascent to fame has been nothing short of extraordinary. Even he was taken aback by his success, commenting to Artnet News, "This being the 21st century, a lot of crazy things happen in the world. I guess this is just another." His debut painting Pilgrim Street 8 (2021), with an estimated value of $8,000 to $12,000, sold for an astounding $69,000. Willem's works consistently outstrip their estimates by a factor of 10 or more. His current record was set at Sotheby's Hong Kong, where his piece Snowbound (2021) fetched an astonishing $225,000, despite an estimate of $13,000 to $19,000. Of the 14 works sold at auction in 2022, half fetched over $150,000, despite estimates ranging from $10,000 to $15,000.

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