Raveel attended this school as a child. His talent for drawing was evident from an early age. We know that he regularly made drawings for his fellow pupils. He was already drawing portraits of neighbours and acquaintances, and even ventured into self-portraits.

Around 1960, he moved his studio to the school's empty gymnasium. The move from the small attic room in Petegemstraat to a much larger space enabled Raveel to create larger and more complex paintings. Many of his most important works were created during the eight years he worked here.

Around 1955, Raveel's work became more abstract. He felt that his paintings lacked spontaneity. He began to paint more “from the gut”, often in the open air. His paintings grew in size and his colour palette became brighter. He introduced the square as an abstract element that contrasted with the spontaneity and “smudginess” of nature.

This abstract phase was temporary, because around 1962, Raveel returned to his previous visual motifs. His paintings then took on a more graphic character, with black lines and contrasting colours. The abstract and the figurative came together in a new synthesis from which the New Vision was born.