Narcisse, 2004
"One should not expect my painting to bear witness to a cruel mode or express the anguish inherent in the human condition. I paint against the angst as a matter of fact, to help living in harmony."
Francine Van Hove's painting is exclusively figurative, feminine and intimist, with a virtuosity close to the one of Old Masters. Based on young women staged in her studio, her everyday life scenes keep a kind of mystery under an apparent simplicity. Her work reflects a feeling of incommunicability and a saving loneliness, like a retreat freely chosen against the unrest of the world.