Belgian sculptor and painter Harold Ancart’s rise to art-world stardom was unexpected—perhaps most of all by the artist himself. Growing up in Brussels, where he was inspired by local comic creators Hergé and Peyo, Ancart spent his free time doodling Tintin and the Smurfs.Yet he couldn’t imagine following in his heroes’ footsteps: “I never really wanted to become a painter, or an artist, because I was terrified of striving, and struggling, and poverty,” he bluntly told Interview Magazine in 2020. “I rather saw myself as a diplomat or someone that travels the world.”
Today, Ancart gets the best of both worlds, flying from London to Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and Berlin to exhibit his semi-abstract work—which has sold for seven figures at Sotheby’s. This week, Ancart landed in Paris for his latest show at Gagosian at Rue de Ponthieu. Ever so generously, le diplomate details how he lives well at cruising altitude.
