‘Split’is an early, expressive watercolour by the Belgian artist Jean De Groote
While De Groote later became widely known as the “Painter of Silence” for his minimalist oil still lifes, this piece—created when he was just 13 years old—captures a raw, dynamic study of the female body
A stylised, nude figure is depicted mid-leap or suspended in a wide-legged split, with both arms reaching straight up past the top edge of the paper
A single, thin drawn line cuts horizontally across the lower third of the composition, establishing a simple horizon or floor plane behind the figure’s legs
Along the bottom torn edge of the sheet, dark, rounded pools of pigment suggest stones, shadows, or water, accompanied by two small, circular white cutouts (binder holes) near the base
The title “Split” is handwritten in pencil or fine ink across the horizon line on the far left
A small number “4” is also noted in the upper left margin
The artwork is executed on warm, tan-coloured craft or archival paper
Signed and dated (1968) in pencil in the lower left corner