Jacques Lobelle (alias Jocal) was born in Roeselare, West Flanders (Belgium) in 1927. Two years later, his large family moved to Bruges and settled in an imposing townhouse built on the ruins of a 15th century cloister, along the city’s old ramparts. Known as ‘The Venice of the North’, Bruges is often described as one of the most romantic cities in the world. His house overlooked the old ring canal besides one of the original city gates. The family had been in the textile trading business for several generations.
When war broke out and Belgium was occupied, the family had to remain in the two upper floors of the house, as the ground floor was requisitioned in 1941 and became a noisy mess for German officers. But as the Wehrmacht retreated on the Russian front, loud parties became much less frequent! Bruges was liberated by Canadian forces in September 1944, and young Jacques then volunteered to join the new Belgian armed forces at the time of the Ardennes offensive.
After the war and his spell in the army, Jacques got married and managed a family catering business in Brussels.
In around 1957, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and declared incurable by his doctors; paralysis loomed at the early age of 30. However, he fought this challenging disease through sheer mental strength and reached full remission. This experience resulted in his realisation of the power of the human mind. He studied alternative medicine, psychology, Eastern doctrines and nutrition for many years and established himself as a renowned practitioner, with clients worldwide.
In the early seventies, Jacques began painting, under the pseudonym of Jocal, and soon this became a driving passion in his life. He defined his abstract style as ‘Potentialism’ (see explanation below
) and established his workshop in a large old farmhouse in the Belgian countryside. After a few years he moved to Ireland where he settled in Ardmore, a small fishing village between Cork and Waterford. His Georgian manor house was right above a long sandy beach, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Again his paintings flourished in this inspirational and majestic setting. He also had an office in Dublin and made a celebrity appearance on national Irish television.
Altogether he produced over 300 major pieces of art and had successful exhibitions in Belgium, Germany, Luxemburg, England, Spain, France, Italy, Ireland and the USA.
His second wife personally handed two of his paintings to His Holiness Pope John Paul II in Rome, in January 1981.
In January 1983, he donated a key painting ‘The Creation of the Universe’ (10m x 2m) to the then European Economic Community, and it was officially presented and displayed in the great hall of the Jean Monnet Building in Luxemburg (see below).
He subsequently settled in California and resided in Malibu, drawing creative inspiration from the Pacific Ocean this time. Jacques’ lifelong love of the sea stemmed from having spent most of his childhood holidays in North Sea resorts, a few miles from Bruges.
Jacques then moved to Switzerland with his third wife, a Swiss national.
Still very active in his on-going research about the human mind and its ability to perceive, explore and heal, Jacques Lobelle finally returned to Belgium where he spent the last years of his life in the Ardennes region. He always had a great sense of humour, a family trait. Above all he loved life and people. He was close to nature and spent hours walking in the forests with his dog.
He died in Liege (Belgium) in 2010.
Over 100 of his paintings have been safely retrieved.
Potentialism, according to Jocal:
Jocal was convinced he was using his extra-sensory perceptions to inspire his paintings. His aim was to catalyze energies of otherwise hidden dimensions to materialize them in a unique interplay of colour, light and shapes. He said his paintings were like a book entitled ‘Life Particles’, each painting being a page of this unique story. He saw Potentialism as a philosophical concept as well as an artistic expression. He wrote: “The portrayal of potential states rather than actual states invites one to perceive the infinite possibilities of life, rather than the finite objectiveness of existence”. He sought to portray the presence of life rather than its manifestation and to obtain a radiation where one feels light rather than sees it, and experiences the spontaneity of life’s energies.
