Pol Mara (1920 - 1998)  a renowned Belgian visual artist, began his formal education in 1935 at the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten (Royal Academy of Fine Arts) in Antwerp. He continued his studies at the Nationaal Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten (NHISK) (National Higher Institute of Fine Arts), graduating in 1948. Following his education, Mara worked as a graphic designer for Janssen Pharmaceutica.

From 1948 to 1962, Mara's artistic style evolved from neo-expressionism through various phases including 'moon heads', a Greek period, and lyrical abstractions in the 1950s, eventually culminating in a more figurative style featuring beautiful and sensual women. Unlike many artists, Mara did not experience abrupt changes in his style; instead, his work developed gradually.

In 1958, Mara joined the Antwerp artist society G-58, alongside contemporaries like Paul Van Hoeydonck, Mark Verstockt, Filip Tas, and Dan Vanseveren. This group of young avant-garde artists emerged from a collective initiative by artists such as Vic Gentils, Walter Leblanc, Jef Verheyen, among others.

During this period, Mara's work featured figures with round heads in a blotchy world dominated by these spots. From the 1960s onwards, Mara developed his own distinctive style, independent of contemporary trends. Influenced by the vitality and dynamism of Antwerp, Mara began extensive travels abroad in 1956. His stay in America profoundly impacted his artistic vision, where the bustling consumerism inspired him to develop a unique technique and style. This led him to incorporate photorealistic elements into his work, reflecting modern cityscapes shaped by business, industry, and emerging mass media.

Mara's work from this period mixed visual language elements from popular media such as television, movies, and magazines, aligning him with the pop art movement. He sought to influence the individual, encouraging a return to a greater sense of reality through visual observations of daily life. His compositions became a blend of highway lines, neon lights, billboards, and machine parts, creating a bombardment of irrational associations encompassing souvenirs, dreams, reality, and aesthetic precision. Sexuality, a central theme in his work, was explored from all aspects, from "normal" to "abnormal".

Despite the cynical and confrontational representations of pop artists, Mara maintained a poetic view of life in the big city. His sensitivity to beauty was evident in his work, which often featured harmonious decorative surfaces and the sudden appearance of female figures.

He created a fantasy world centered on attractive young women, which he derived from kitschy glossy magazines and advertising. For Mara, beauty was an absolute value, and his aesthetic world was a protest against societal ugliness and injustice.

In 1974, Mara created murals for the Montgomery Metro Station in Brussels. He maintained a studio in Borgerhout, Antwerp, and since 1972, partially for health reasons, he resided in Gordes, Provence, France.  From 1995 - 2011 the large halls of the Castle of Gordes hosted the Pol Mara Museum.