Bram Bogart ranks amongst the principal artists of the 'Informel', the large post-war movement, which abandoned geometric abstraction in favour of a more intuitive form of expression, similar to action painting, but often a lot more gestural and textural. Bram Bogart worked at the heart of the movement, which included Alberto Burri in Italy, and Antonio Tàpies in Spain. In 1946 Bogart settled in Paris for a decade, where he developed his signature technique of brushing, dripping and pouring layers of matter onto the canvas. His Parisian paintings are monochrome in palette and almost romantic in their expression. His move to Belgium in 1959, coincided with a change in style: painted in wide confident gestural strokes, often using strong colour. Although Bogart has used the same technique throughout his career, he has always been able to renew his painting. Thus, Bogart is considered a leader of post-war ‘matière’ painters.

'Au Bal Noir' is typical of the early work, being direct, masculine, and physical in its execution, yet composed, romantic and subtle in its appearance.

The work of Bram Bogart is present in the following museum collections: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; S.M.A.K, Ghent; Musée du Louvre, Paris; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Tate Modern, London; Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney; National Gallery of Victoria, Australia; Guggenheim, New York.