Bart Verschaffel
Tenured Academic Staff
Contact details and research profile
Biography
Bart Verschaffel (1956), studied Philosophy and Medieval Studies at the KU Leuven, obtained a doctorate in philosophy there (KU Leuven, 1985). He is affiliated with UGent as a full professor and teaches architecture theory and architecture criticism. He publishes primarily in the field of cultural philosophy, architecture and art theory, and aesthetics. The most important monographic publications: De glans der dingen. Studies en kritieken over kunst en cultuur (1989); Rome/Over theatraliteit (1990); Figuren/Essays (1995); Architecture is (as) a Gesture (2001), À propos de Balthus (2004); Van Hermes en Hestia. Teksten over architectuur (2006, 2010²); Nature morte, portrait, paysage. Essais sur les genres en peinture (2007); Een god is vele dieren. Essays over Jan Fabre 1988-2010 (2009); De zaak van de kunst. Over kennis, kritiek en schoonheid (2011), Charles Vandenhove. Architecture / Architectuur 1954-2014 (2014), Mock humanity! Two essays on James Ensor’s grotesques (2018).
Bart Verschaffel is the author of a series of documentary films on Belgian artists such as Jan Fabre, Henri De Braekeleer, René Magritte, Thierry De Cordier e.a. in collaboration with Jef Cornelis (BRTN). He headed the program section ‘Discourse and Literature’ for the Antwerp European Cultural Capital program in 1993 and was curator of two major exhibitions, with catalogue: ‘Giambattista Piranesi. The Print Collection of Ghent University’ (Gent, Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent, 2008) and ‘b0b Van Reeth. Architect’ (Brussels, BOZAR, 2013). He was awarded with the Flemish Community’s Biennial Award for Art Criticism in 2003 and is a member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts. He is currently director of the VANDENHOVE Centre for Architecture and the Arts and in charge of the Vandenhove art collection donated to the UGent in 2016.
