Johan De Wilde. Hands of Time – Les très riches heures de Jean le Sauvage

Johan De Wilde is a Belgian artist, born in 1964. His oeuvre consists of prints, paintings, photo series, graphic art and collages, but he’s mostly known for his intriguing, usually small scale pencil drawings. Since the mid-nineties he creates drawings that are meticulously constructed of thin horizontal and vertical lines, layer after layer, by which hints of shapes and numbers are made visible. The technique suggests a certain swiftness of movement, recalling the vague quality of a film still or blurred photograph.

De Wilde’s time-consuming work method forms an antithesis to the fast pace of life and the transience of our overly saturated digital visual culture. “As I draw”, he says, “I think of the activities of people in the outside world. Outside, time flows. Inside, it seems to stand still. Each pencil line becomes a unit of time. Every drawing represents a shadow time”. This may be seen as an ironic remark on ‘Ars longa, vita brevis’—art is long, life is short.

This book is the fourth volume of the Hands of Time series and covers De Wilde’s new works from the period 2021–2025. Titled Les très riches heures de Jean le Sauvage, it highlights his exploration of the number Pi, along with his ongoing series History 500 – Alles wat geweest zal zijn – Tout ce qui aura été – All that will have been, as well as History 515 – Maniera and History 527 – Decline – Inzinking. Although this fourth volume appears from the outside similar in shape and design as its predecessors, the inside is completely rethought, resulting in a complex book object. The book offers an in-depth look at the artist’s evolving creative journey, revealing a powerful dialogue between time, art, and mathematical intrigue.