Signed and dated, this 1957 'Compositie' in oil on canvas is documented across four scholarly publications on Belgian abstract art, reflecting its standing within Paul Van Hoeydonck's geometric period, shortly before his attention turned toward space and the cosmos.

Paul Van Hoeydonck (1925–2025) studied art history in Antwerp before turning to painting, exhibiting figurative harbour scenes and industrial landscapes at his first solo show in 1952. Within a few years he had moved into geometric abstraction, joining the Formes group in 1956 and co-founding the Antwerp avant-garde collective G58 with Jef Verheyen.

The dawn of the Space Age redirected his imagination: from the late 1950s onward, planets, cities and astronauts became his recurring subjects, rendered in white-on-white reliefs, plexiglass and collage. In 1971, at the invitation of NASA, the crew of Apollo 15 placed his aluminium sculpture 'Fallen Astronaut' on the lunar surface — a tribute to astronauts and cosmonauts who had died in the pursuit of space exploration, and to this day the only artwork ever installed beyond Earth.

Details

• Material: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 90 × 100 cm