De Keyser’s drawings and watercolors are a crucial part of his oeuvre. They offer an intimate glimpse into the artist’s thought process and work method. The drawings are only rarely conventional studies: they are often a reaction to his own paintings, but they can also stand on their own. 

De Keyser’s works from the 1970s are characterized by his exploration of materials (pencil, chalk, watercolor, ink, graphite, gesso, etc.), types of paper, and techniques (such as scratching, rubbing and smudging). The work process itself gradually became the subject of the oeuvre, with hesitations and ‘mistakes’ increasingly being admitted into the works.

The chalk line, as in Untitled (1980), became a multipurpose motif for investigating both the pictorial space and the material and procedural aspects of painting. From 1985 onwards, the chalk line was doubled, as in the well-known Hallepoort series (1987–88) where the works on paper have a counterpart on canvas. Natural elements were also an important source of inspiration in the 1970s and 1980s, such as the wooded sand hill that De Keyser cycled past every day in Zandvlo (1976–89) and the use of the color green in Untitled (1980–89).

In the 1990s De Keyser revisited earlier motifs, such as the ‘monkey puzzle’ tree from his garden in Untitled (1996) and Untitled (1988–91). We also see more monochrome, abstract works that have been 'disrupted', such as Rug(1992) and Aus Der Kabinet (1991). Rug is one of the two works on paper that Raoul De Keyser exhibited at the 1992 Documenta, curated by Jan Hoet. In the 2000s the artist moved further and further away from the recognizable, his works seemingly becoming more detached. 

Raoul De Keyser was born in Deinze in 1930 and lived there his entire life. In 1964 he began developing a highly personal oeuvre that is extremely difficult to categorize. He reconciles a number of apparent contradictions, such as figuration versus abstraction and the tactility of paint versus the ephemerality of the image. His work explores the fundamentals of painting while also referring to his personal life and surroundings. De Keyser adopted the principles of Nieuwe Visie (New Vision) and Fundamental Painting in the 1970s and used them to develop his own idiom, which brought him international recognition.

Zeno X Gallery has represented Raoul De Keyser since 1988. His first institutional solo exhibition in Asia will take place next autumn (2022) at M Woods in Beijing. Major solo exhibitions in the past have been held at Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich (2019), S.M.A.K. in Ghent (2018), Inverleith House in Edinburgh (2015), Kunstmuseum Bonn (2009), Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (2009), The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin (2009), FRAC Auvergne in Clermont-Ferrand (2008), Kunstverein Sankt Gallen (2005), Museu Serralves in Porto (2005), De Pont in Tilburg (2004), Whitechapel Gallery in London (2004), Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens in Deurle (2002), The Renaissance Society in Chicago (2001), Kunstmuseum Luzern (1999), M HKA in Antwerp (1997), Portikus in Frankfurt (1991) and Kunsthalle Bern (1991), among others. De Keyser has also featured in major international group exhibitions such as Documenta IX (1992), curated by Jan Hoet, and the Venice Biennale (2007), curated by Robert Storr.