Roger Van Damme
Roger Van Damme (1921-2008) Born in Belgium, Van Damme studied at the Art Students League of New York in the late 1950's under 20th century masters Edwin Dickinson and George Grosz.
Van Damme is perhaps best known for his still-life paintings of enamel field cups. Referring to the time he was severly wounded in Belgium during WWII, these became a recurring theme in his imagery. He claimed to have been nursed back to health with liquids from these cups. His seascapes, his sensual depictions of young nudes, and his tender portraits of his beloved wife, Olga, have piqued the attention of critics and audiences over the years.
Throughout his sixty year career Van Damme won many awards including a MacDowell Residence Fellowship in 1970, and a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant in 1976. He was a much loved teacher at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven. Van Damme lived and worked in Milford, Connecticut, close to the shoreline from which he drew years of quietude and inspiration.
