Born in 1949, 
Bernard VERCRUYCE had an early fascination for the brushwork of his grand father, Camille VAN HYFTE, who was a genuine naïf painter. 
Cats appeared for the first time as a topic in his own work in 1979, and soon became his main inspiration.

"Hieratic, tender, mysterious and serene, cat finds its essential truth in Vercruyce’s works as formal perfection and dignity, and also as the living memory of most antique traditions…
"Demain, les Chats"  Bernard Vercruyce says, asserting his love and affection for his models. His canvasses and watercolors are chiseled with a jeweler’s patience and have the quality of a miniaturist’s or an illuminator’s work. 
There is in this "out of time" and "beyond fashion" artist something of a medieval clerk : he paints cats in the way others choose to study ancient scriptures. 
Vercruyce is the cat’s "companion" in the workman tradition.
Robert de Laroche, writer and winner of the Académie Française prize.

 "Cats embody femininity so well that we wish they’d symbolize mankind as a whole, but man is undoubtedly but a pale reflection of these living gods. And if a few human beings dedicate part of their artwork or of their life to them, it only represents a feeble tribute to those who have been watching over us since the origins of time.
As you may see, perfection is alive on earth. Do we still have to close our eyes to see it ? And if I have found my muse, have you ?"
Bernard Vercruyce.