Art
Billie's Passion for Art
An ongoing project that eventually will end up containing most of her collection of art and antiques.A collection of art by different artists, collected by Billie Davies Goegebeur over time that she slowly considers to be for sale so to let these beautiful works of art go in the world for someone else to enjoy.
If interested, please contact Billie by clicking on this link: "Inquire by email", or contact Cobra Basement by using the Contact Cobra Basement Form in the sidebar to your left.
Artists in Billie's Collection:
| Serge Vandercam's Art | Rudi Pillen, Pillen's Art | Kathleen Goegebeur, Kathleen Goegebeur's Art | Mimmo Roselli, Roselli's Art | Casentini, Casentini's Art | Franco Vianello, Vianello's sculpture | Frank Dituri, Dituri's Photograph |
Serge Vandercam (1924 - 2005)
Billie Davies met Vandercam in 1992 and they became close friends.
"Introducing Serge Vandercam is remembering and appreciating at it's just
historical value the fact that he was closely associated to the "CoBrA"
adventure with Christian Dotremont, Asger Jorn, Hugo Claus, Joseph Noiret and
other fellow artists from Scandinavia, Belgium and The Netherlands. His art
has cultivated the root on which CoBrA built it's voice to the world..." [text
by Danielle Guillemon, MAD '94]
Close to the surrealist movement, he
joined the CoBrA group in 1949. Vandercam's work fits into the desire for
experimental research, multidisciplinarity and a taste for the primitive arts
characteristic of the CoBrA movement: photographer, painter, ceramist,
sculptor ... Vandercam he is a bold designer. His interest in poetry and
writing led him to collaborate with many writers, including Christian Dotremont, Hugo Claus, the poet Joseph
Noiret, or Marcel and Gabriel Piqueray. Professor at the École Supérieure des
Arts Visuels de la Cambre (1979-1989), he directed the Wavre School of Fine
Arts from 1981 to 1989.
"Hand In Hand In The Hand Of The Moon"
The below set of 7 artworks on gessoed archival paper painted in a mixed media of oil/gouache/enamel and entitled "Hand In Hand In The Hand Of The Moon" was created by Serge Vandercam on Billie Davies' drum playing in 1995 at her studio in Tiburon, California. He stayed with her for about a month that year. She was good friends with him and his wife Thalia.In 2015, 20 years later, Billie produced the album "Hand In Hand In The Hand Of The Moon" as an homage to Serge Vandercam who had passed away ten years earlier.
An homage to Serge Vandercam (Copenhagen, Denmark, 1924 - Wavre, Belgium,
March 10, 2005). A symphony inspired by paintings by Serge Vandercam and
drums by Billie Davies (Brugge, Belgium, 1955).
The painter influenced by the drummer and the drummer influenced by the
painter over a period of three days of the full moon. A collaborative
work, conceived in 1995 resulting 20 years later in a set of 7
paintings and a jazz symphony of 1 prelude and 7 musical movements.
When you acquire this set of 7 works you will receive the "Hand In Hand In The Hand Of The Moon" Compact Disc Album with the music that was created and published in 2015 influenced by these works of art. Billie Davies invites you to make an offer for the seven works. Inquire by email
When you acquire this set of 7 works you will receive the "Hand In Hand In The Hand Of The Moon" Compact Disc Album with the music that was created and published in 2015 influenced by these works of art. Billie Davies invites you to make an offer for the seven works. Inquire by email
(Click the image to enlarge.)
"Hand In Hand"
mixed media of oil/gouache/enamel on gessoed archival paper
22" x 30" - 56cm x 76cm
Signed Serge V. in February 1995
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"In The Hand Of The Moon"
mixed media of oil/gouache/enamel on gessoed archival paper
22" x 30" - 56cm x 76cm
Signed Serge V. in February 1995
(Click the image to enlarge.)
"Listen To The Bird"
mixed media of oil/gouache/enamel on gessoed archival paper
22" x 30" - 56cm x 76cm
Signed Serge V. in February 1995
(Click the image to enlarge.)
"As She Tells"
mixed media of oil/gouache/enamel on gessoed archival paper
22" x 30" - 56cm x 76cm
Signed Serge V. in February 1995
(Click the image to enlarge.)
"The Shark"
mixed media of oil/gouache/enamel on gessoed archival paper
22" x 30" - 56cm x 76cm
Signed Serge V. in February 1995
(Click the image to enlarge.)
"Tiburon"
mixed media of oil/gouache/enamel on gessoed archival paper
22" x 30" - 56cm x 76cm
Signed Serge V. in February 1995
(Click the image to enlarge.)
"The Bridge"
mixed media of oil/gouache/enamel on gessoed archival paper
22" x 30" - 56cm x 76cm
Signed Serge V. in February 1995
Rudi Pillen (1931 - 2014)
"Neo Humanistic Expressionism"
Billie met Rudi Pillen in 1989 in San Francisco. He later stayed with her and Mary in Mill Valley for a few months in 1991 and ended up moving into Napa on the Napa River after they had moved to Napa in 1997.
"Those who are priviliged to have spent some time in the presence of his work discover a playful virtuosity, the colorful side of people and animals, a sublime graphical emanation tinged with emotion, mild social criticism and a spiritual view of the nature of things and of human (and animal) creatures..." [text by Hugo Brutin]
From the press: 'With a rich color range, he first lays a background, on which he forms anonymous silhouettes in black lines. Then he paints over the canvas in grey-yellow, sand-coloured tones, but spares the silhouettes' and 'His painting method is expressive rather than decorative. He comes across as outspokenly lyrical, as far as possible from the chilly current that characterizes the geometric art genre' 'n 'In an unimaginably flexible way he can give a figure a tangible inner presence, suggest rhythm, the things of every day with a moaning smile'
(1997): 'The ethereal atmosphere of his earlier work, in which figures stepped from the depth of the canvas towards the viewer, has been replaced by canvases in which people and animals appear, swathed in bright shades of red and green and in which the faces are also more prominent.” He is mentioned in the Lexicon of West Flemish visual artists III, Artists and galleries 1997; BAS II and Two centuries of signatures of Belgian artists. (piron)
A most famous masterpiece of Rudi Pillen, “The Travellers” can be found in Bangkok, at the main exchange level of MRT Station Thai Cultural Center. This 6.5 ft by 33 ft painting was inaugurated by Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz of Belgium.
Biography (click to view and hide)
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"Breakfast In The Grass"
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"Red Abstract"
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"Red Elegance"
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"People In The Night"
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"The Girls Of San Francisco"
Rudi Pillen
34" x 51" - 86cm x 129.5cm
Limited Edition mixed media (lithography/serigraphy) print, 1992
Published by Cobra Fine Art in San Francisco
Inquire by email
Limited Edition mixed media (lithography/serigraphy) print, 1992
Published by Cobra Fine Art in San Francisco
Inquire by email
(Click the image to enlarge.)
"People"
Rudi Pillen
34" x 34" - 86cm x 86cm
Limited Edition mixed media (lithography/serigraphy) print, 1993
Published by Cobra Fine Art in San Francisco
Inquire by email
34" x 34" - 86cm x 86cm
Limited Edition mixed media (lithography/serigraphy) print, 1993
Published by Cobra Fine Art in San Francisco
Inquire by email
(Click the image to enlarge.)
"The Conversation"
Rudi Pillen
32" x 49" - 81cm x 124.5cm
Limited Edition mixed media (lithography/serigraphy), 1994
Published by Cobra Fine Art in San Francisco
32" x 49" - 81cm x 124.5cm
Limited Edition mixed media (lithography/serigraphy), 1994
Published by Cobra Fine Art in San Francisco
In a private collection.
Kathleen Goegebeur (1961-)
"Thought-provoking fine art paintings."
A latest addition to Billie's collection starting in 2024 is the abstract work of Kathleen Goegebeur, an artist from Belgium. Her work has become Billie's latest passion. She was born in Blankenberge, Belgium in 1961 and lives and works in the province of Antwerp, Belgium.
Biography (click to view and hide)
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"Retrospectives"
The painting was made for the cover of Billie Davies' album released in 2025 entitled
"Retrospectives (In the Key of Jazz)".
Mixed Media on Steinbach paper, 2025, click image to enlarge
43" x 30" - 110cm x 73cm
Kathleen Goegebeur
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Biography (click to view and hide)
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"The Couple"
Mixed Media on Canvas circa 1990
Piero Casentini
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"The Glass Blower"
Original one of a kind Bronze circa 2005
17" High x 10" Wide
It stands now outside in Billie's yard so it can get a natural patina.
Franco Vianello
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The painting was made for the cover of Billie Davies' album released in 2025 entitled
"Retrospectives (In the Key of Jazz)".
Mixed Media on Steinbach paper, 2025, click image to enlarge
43" x 30" - 110cm x 73cm
Kathleen Goegebeur
(Click the image to enlarge.)
"What Stays Unseen"
Tryptich
Kathleen Goegebeur
Tryptich
Mixed Media on Paper, Marouflé on canvassed board.
11 3/4" x 16" (x3) - 29.845cm x 40.64cm (x3)Kathleen Goegebeur
In this triptych, the artist seeks out the traces of what passes by—and the silence that remains.
The works breathe a slow passage of time, in which layers fade, boundaries dissolve, and forms recede into almost nothingness.
What was visible vanishes. What vanishes leaves behind an imprint.
Within that imprint—in that barely tangible moment—lies the essence of *What Remains Invisible*.
The paintings invite a slowed-down way of looking. Their surfaces seem to breathe, as if time itself were held captive within them—not to be preserved, but to allow for the contemplation of its passing.
Thus, a silent dialogue emerges between presence and disappearance, between the tangible and the elusive.
The works breathe a slow passage of time, in which layers fade, boundaries dissolve, and forms recede into almost nothingness.
What was visible vanishes. What vanishes leaves behind an imprint.
Within that imprint—in that barely tangible moment—lies the essence of *What Remains Invisible*.
The paintings invite a slowed-down way of looking. Their surfaces seem to breathe, as if time itself were held captive within them—not to be preserved, but to allow for the contemplation of its passing.
Thus, a silent dialogue emerges between presence and disappearance, between the tangible and the elusive.
(Click the image to enlarge.)
"Untitled"
Dyptich
Acrylic on Canvassed Board
10" x 10" (x2)
Kathleen Goegebeur
Dyptich
Acrylic on Canvassed Board
10" x 10" (x2)
Kathleen Goegebeur
Mimmo Roselli (1952 - )
Billie met Mimmo Roselli in Tiburon, CA circa 1995/1996. She remembers having him over for lunch and Mary making her stretch fry bread he loved so very much.
He was born in Rome in 1952 and lives and works in Bagno a Ripoli (Florence)/Italy
Biography (click to view and hide)
"Prighiera"
35" x 35" - 89cm x 89cm
Acrylic on canvas circa 1994-1996
Mimmo Roselli
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35" x 35" - 89cm x 89cm
Acrylic on canvas circa 1994-1996
Mimmo Roselli
Inquire by email
Piero Casentini (1963 - )
As Casentini's largest body of work over time are religious representations and paintings of a realistic religious nature it was interesting for Billie to see some of his work in 1991 in a more expressionist style quite reminiscent of Jean Dubuffet's work of the 1940's and the 1950's and therefore got quite excited of his work. This might well be one of the only pieces of work by him of this expressionist and tactile nature that is today still available.
Piero Casentini was born in Rome on October 29, 1963. He lives and works between Assisi and Valmontone, where he has his studio.
Piero Casentini attended the Art High School in Frosinone. Then, in 1988, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. At
the Academy he attended, among others, courses in Painting, with Turchiaro and Francesco Delli Santi; in History of Art, with Lorenza
Trucchi; in Engraving, with Giuseppe Gambino and Mauro Filippini.
His first solo exhibition took place in Colleferro at the Giotto
Cultural Center, in 1981. Another solo exhibition was organized in Palestrina, at the “Il Capitello” Gallery, in 1983. He participated in
some significant exhibitions of didactic nature as an attempt to gain knowledge and affirm his work in the critical contextualization of
his own contemporaneity. He has a large biography with many group exhibitions and solo exhibitions over time but I have not found one that I can copy over that is a little more concise... :)
He has participated in numerous group exhibitions both in Italy and abroad. Since the beginning of his artistic activity, he has
been called to create important cycles of frescoes, altarpieces and sacred furnishings in the Italian Dioceses.
He also created several tables between the pages of the New Lectionary of the CEI.
He frequently participates in the Staurós Biennial of Contemporary Sacred Art at the Sanctuary of San
Gabriele dell'Addolorata in Isola del Gran Sasso (Teramo).
Some of his works are preserved by the Custody of the Holy Land, in the convents of Capernaum and San
Salvatore in Jerusalem. Other works of his are exhibited at the Staurós Museum of Contemporary Sacred
Art of San Gabriele dell'Addolorata in Isola del Gran Sasso (Teramo) and at the Museum of Contemporary
Sacred Art of Villa Clerici in Milan.
(Click the image to enlarge.)
"The Couple"
Mixed Media on Canvas circa 1990
Piero Casentini
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Franco Vianello (1937-2015)
Billie met Franco in Napa, CA and was many times at his studio and had quite a few dinners together.
When she saw the wax mold for "The Glassblower" she fell in love with it and asked whether he would cast it in bronze. He ended up casting it in bronze according to the lost wax method just for Billie and therefore it is now in her collection.
Franco Vianello was born in Venice in 1937 to a family with a heritage of over a century of sculptors and founders. He began his traditional training at nine and by eleven his skills and talents were cognized by famed sculptor, Napolone Martinuzzi, who accepted him as an apprentice. His exceptional talent at the age of thirteen qualified him to study at the Institute of Arts in Venice where he earned his master’s. Franco came to the United States in 1959 as a recognized and highly respected sculptor, having created many bronze works, including life-size bronzes. Most of his Italian work was for cities and churches and a few well-known collectors, including Peggy Guggenheim. Franco started the first (other than New York) lost-wax sculpture foundry in Berkeley, California in 1960. He taught bronze sculpting techniques and set up lost-wax casting facilities, including the University of California at Berkeley. After serving in the United States Army, he and his wife, Jane, settled in the East Bay of San Francisco. He resumed his career in sculpture and created works that are seen throughout the world and the United States. Some of his works are historically correct pieces that depict early California life and some of its’ wild animals. He also enjoys sculpting and casting modern pieces, classical and thematic works. Some of his personal favorite works include many smaller scale bronzes depicting early California life often noted for their painstaking attention to accurate period details of artifacts and clothing. His work drew deep admiration from the many artists and collectors with whom he interacted both during his time in Berkeley, Richmond, San Lorenzo and from his home studio in Napa Valley. As one of only a handful of artists skilled in the art of Lost Wax casting and large scale monuments
Some larger bronze sculptures include:
Tuna Fishermen, a monument on Shelter Island in San Diego, California.
Four Horsemen at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Bucking Horse for the Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Pony Express in Old Town Sacramento, California (co-sculptor).
Leif Ericson in Seattle, Washington.
He has created bronze sculptures for:
The Audubon Society, Champion International, Scripps Oceanographic Institute, Wells Fargo Bank, Dillingham Corp., Levi Strauss, San Francisco Bohemian Club, San Diego Historical Society, and the San Francisco Academy of Sciences.
Franco has received many awards and prizes for his work. He is especially proud of the Trustee’s Gold Medal unanimously voted by the directors of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center and the National Academy of Western Art.
(Click the images to enlarge.)
"The Glass Blower"
Original one of a kind Bronze circa 2005
17" High x 10" Wide
It stands now outside in Billie's yard so it can get a natural patina.
Franco Vianello
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Frank Dituri
“For me, photography is much more than a visual documentation; it is a personal journey, where dreams transcend reality, and material facts and the ethereal often merge.”
Frank Dituri, an American son of Italian immigrants, divides his time between Italy and New York. He is a photographer who likes to transform the obvious into images that border on uncertainty and mystery. He was on the faculty at Long Island University, C.W. Post and is currently in the art department at Libera Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy. In New York, Fran Kaufman Art Advisory and Stephen Rosenberg Fine Art represent Dituri’s work.
In the 1960’s Dituri started taking pictures in the streets of New York. By the 80’s he began seeing human figures as visual “bookmarks” formally defining his vision. Often buried childhood experiences began resurfacing in many of his images. Plus his work became increasingly concerned with spirituality and nature. Though a photographer, the artworks of painters like Giorgio De Chirico, Piero della Francesca and Edward Hopper have greatly informed Dituri’s vision, especially through the strength of their perspective, staging, and mystery. Another early influence was Japanese-American poet, Soichi Furuta, who inspired him to use the word as a point of departure.
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"Untitled"
Hand developed by Dituri, One of a kind Black and White Photography
Signed by the artist Aug 1994
Frank Dituri
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"Untitled"
Hand developed by Dituri, One of a kind Black and White Photography
Signed by the artist Aug 1994
Frank Dituri
Inquire by email