MILIEU Gift Guide 2021
MILIEU Gift Guide 2021

Open and Closed Doors, 2021. Purdy Hicks

Hovering between dream state and reality is the ethereal world of Belgian artist Pierre Bergian. As a child growing up in Bruges and Ghent, Bergian was a curious sort. Intrigued by the old abandoned buildings he encountered along the waterways of the Low Country, he developed a fascination with interior spaces and architecture that would influence the course of his life.

Hôtel de Gesvres à Paris, 2022. Purdy Hicks

Paravent et Mirroir, 2022. Purdy Hicks

Roman Capriccio, 2022. Purdy Hicks

The Cube, 2022. Purdy Hicks

Trained in art history and archeology, Bergian became a writer, devotee of design, collector, and artist. However, it was the memory of those decaying rooms from his childhood, bathed in mystery and natural light, that would become his muse and the driving force behind his work.

Blue Room, 2022. Octavia Gallery

L’Enfilade, 2021. Octavia Gallery

Many of Bergian’s paintings depict quiet rooms, devoid of furnishings, allowing abstract pictures and architecture to sing.

White Cube, 2018. Gerald Bland

Orage, Storm, 2018. Gerald Bland

Empty Room, 2020

The Orange Painting, 2022

Other spaces are rendered with exquisite exactitude. Their owners are known to most of us by single names: Givenchy, Lagerfeld, Castaing, Duquette. Luminary icons of the design world are all within Bergian’s realm.

Hubert De Givenchy Collectionneur Paris, Christies. Hôtel d’Orrouer, 2021.

Grand Salon of Karl Lagerfeld, 51 Rue de l’Université, Paris, 2020. Purdy Hicks

Living Room of Tony Duquette, 2022. Purdy Hicks

Bibliothèque of Madeleine Castaing, Lèves, France, 2020. Eerdmans

Whether a serene, imaginary chamber, adorned with a single painting, the opulent lair of one of the world’s greatest designers, or a vacant street lined with soulful buildings, a Bergian work is distinctive if not supernatural. It’s as if we are voyeurs, catching a glimpse of a private, ephemeral world with Pierre as our guide.

Citta Ideale, 2022. Octavia Gallery

Pierre Bergian studied at the University of Ghent and has published writings on design and architecture. He has had solo exhibitions at galleries around the world including Purdy Hicks, Octavia, Eerdmans, and Gerald Bland. Bergian’s work is included in the permanent collection of The British Museum, London. His next exhibition will be at the Octavia Gallery, New Orleans, February 2023.