Fishing for Stars, ca. 1920

During WWI Frits Van den Berghe moved to Het Gooi, a rural area east of Amsterdam. In the Netherlands, which was neutral, he came into contact with prewar modernist movements such as Expressionism, Cubism and Futurism. The Star-Fisher is a striking example of the personal synthesis of all these influences. The metaphysical layering and visionary power of Van den Berghe’s work – which is typical of his work as a whole – are often expressed, as in this case, in poetic images that continue to intrigue us. In The Star-Fisher we see a naked figure fishing reflections of the stars out of the water in the darkness of the night. The moonlight creates a dreamy, almost unreal atmosphere. Van den Berghe rarely explained his work, so it is often difficult to interpret. The seemingly futile activity of this ‘star-fisher’ probably symbolises the utopian desire for the absolute.