From the beginning of the 1950s, defended by Michel Tapié, Gillet was part of the generation of post-war abstract painters, of the Paris school, before taking the path of expressionist figuration in the 1960s like Fautrier, Rebeyrolle and Dubuffet. Gillet was first exhibited in France by the historic galleries Claude Bernard, Rodolphe Stadler, Jeanne Bucher; then by the Ariel gallery run by Jean Pollack. He has also worked with Lorenzell iArte, Italy; Nova Spectra, Amsterdam; Malborough, New York; as well as Stéphane Janssen, Fred Lanzenberg and Orion in Brussels. In Gillet’s painting we find many Belgian and northern European influences from Rembrandt to Ensor first, but also a great connivance with his friends Alechinsky and Reinhoud.
Gillet is present in many Belgian private and public collections, including the SMAK, Ghent; the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Brussels; Fondation Roi Baudouin: Thomas Neirynck donation on deposit at BAM, Mons), as well as international collections: Center Pompidou, Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris; the Museums of Fine Arts of Lyon, Rennes and Rouen; The Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille; the Louisiana Museum of modern Art, Denmark; the Oslo Museum, Norway and the Museu de arte in São Paulo, Brazil, amongst others.
