“Re-igniting the Soul like the Flame of a Candle between Two Doors”: Conversions in the Biography of Three Belgian 20th Century Art Critics

In this article, I would like to problematize the continuing friendship between the Belgian twentieth century art critic Jan Walravens and the visual artist Felix de Boeck, despite their growing differences in religious orientation. The conversion of this art critic brought about profound changes in the framework that he used to evaluate the artworks by De Boeck. By describing the conversion careers of two other critics writing about the art of De Boeck, I will try to show something of the role that these conversions played in their evaluation of his art. It will be argued that their conversion can shed a new light on the conceptual framework that these critics used to interpret religious art in the context of a secularist art world.