Bernard Bosschaert was born in Wervik, Belgium on November 8, 1933. At the early age of 15, Bosschaert began his formal art training at the l’Ecole de Beaux-Arts in Leiden (Les Pays-Bas).

After finishing his studies at the academy, he moved to Bruges to open his studio. He began his career as a landscape painter exhibiting a strong influence from both the French impressionists and the Barbizon school.

Bosschaert was not afraid of color. His first works were met with critical acclaim and enormous success. Using his palette and the magic of his brush, he captured light and its relationship to shadows mixed with the gentle nuances of the changing seasons. He would then transform these blank canvases into richly colorful landscapes capturing the ever-changing earthy atmosphere of Belgium and France.

Bosschaert would continue to study and travel. His paintings began to include small Dutch villages, beach scenes near Knokke-Heist (on the North Sea). He would even include the streets of Paris, as one of his subjects. However, it was Bruges that had won to his heart. He discovered that all he had to do was walk out of his studio door to find an endless source subject matter.

In the past, Bruges was referred to it, as the “Venice of the North.” The old city was filled the colorful lively flower market, lazy canals, shadowy windmills and romantic Dutch architecture. Bernard Bosschaert would begin to translate his feelings for this wonderful old forgotten city from his heart to his canvas. It was these translations on canvas that gained this young artist his success and would bring the world to his door and Bruges.

Bosschaert soon was invited to join numerous artist groups (Artists of Oostende, Horizon in Knokke-Heist, De Zeven Torentjes in Assebroek and Ten Putte in Lede). As a member of these artistic organizations, Bosschaert began participating in exhibitions throughout Belgium. He exhibited in Gistel, Bruges, Lissewege, Knokke, Oostende, Lede, Knokke-Heist, Ieper, Roeselare, Kortrijk, Gent, Antwerpen, Lille, Einhoven, and Aix-la Chapelle in Germany.

He would also have individual exhibitions in Gistel, Lissewege, Bruges Knokke, Oostende, Lede, Roeselare and Maarkedal. From 1960 to 1989, La galerie Horizon in Heist (Knokke-Heist) would host an annual grand one-man exhibition for Bernard Bosschaert. The popularity of these exhibitions became more than Mr. Bosschaert could sustain. After 140 one-man and group exhibitions, he decided to limit his exhibitions and only at one gallery in Knokke-Heist on the coast of Belgium.

Bernard Bosschaert’s paintings can be found in numerous private and public collections in Lille, Bruges, Paris, Cologne, Ontario, Milan, Amsterdam, Minnesota, and Dallas.