Gallery overview

Provenance Gal. Van de Loo, München
Simoens Gal., Antwerp




ALECHINSKY - FREEDOM AND HAPPINESS

"Would I start? Would I start with small lines, small crosses, small dots, with a big thing going from there to there, with a big spot that would watch me, with an idea? Would I start by stroking the canvas because I dream it’s already finished? No, I'm starting." (Alechinsky, Paris, September 1953)

And so Alechinsky starts this extraordinary work. He casually follows his feeling while he applies the acrylic to the canvas. The artist gives free rein to his hand: sometimes the lines are calm and elegant in warm ocher, sometimes he applies brusque, heavy brush strokes in bright blue and green. It is this same hand that tells Alechinsky’s fantastic stories and gives expression to the world as he experiences it. The result is a painting bursting with spontaneous energy. The gesture is explicitly present as an expressive tool, reminiscent of American abstract expressionism rather than of Cobra
The painting is a joyful color play evoking instant delight and cheerfulness. But coincidence and the subconscious also have an important role: the images veiled by the splendor of color are not at all unambiguous. Fortunately Alechinsky also loves to play with language, as illustrated by the poetic title which pushes us more or less in the direction of the painting’s story. Furthermore, we, as spectator, are challenged to use our own creativity and thus contribute to the creation of the final image. The image of the artist also becomes the image of the viewer.

"L’invention de la brouette" is the title of this oeuvre majeure – so to say in the words of the artist himself. Alechinsky does not make it easy for us as viewers. We can indeed see some wheels. Do the lines form a wheelbarrow? Does the mysterious head at the bottom represent the inventor? Maybe the artist wants to tell us about the invention of the wheel and he mingles title and image as a totum pro parte. Or maybe there is another approach that has to do with Alechinsky's trip to Lapland in 1974, where he makes this painting in the studio of his friend Bengt Lindström in Sundsvall (Sweden). The local stories and legends - which he loves so much - have certainly reached his ears and must have when creating this image. After all, it is up to the viewer and his imagination to complete the story.

Literature "César. Catalogue Raisonné. Vol. I 1947-1964" Denyse Durand-Ruel, Éditions de la Différence, Paris 1994, cf. nr. 258 reprod. Provenance Gal. Sabine Wachters, Knokke-Heist

Provenance Deweer Art Gallery, Otegem

Literature "Folon. Sculpturen" Ed. Snoeck, Ghent 2008, cf. p. 206-207 reprod. of a larger version

Provenance Ad Libitum Gal., Antwerp

Literature "Homo Faber" Bart De Baere and others, Mercatorfonds, Antwerp 2006, cf. p. 345 reprod.
"Jan Fabre au Louvre. L'ange de la métamorphose" Marie-Laure Bernadac and others, Gallimard/Musée du Louvre Éd., Paris 2008, cf. p. 182-183 & 185 reprod.
"Jan Fabre. Hortus/Corpus" Stefan Hertmans & Evert van Straeten, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo/NAj Publ., Rotterdam 2011, cf. p. 130-131 & 133 reprod. Provenance Deweer Gal., Otegem

Literature "L'Atelier du Maître du Fils Prodigue" Georges Marlier, Yearbook K.M.S.K. Antwerp 1961, p. 109 nr. 10 (record of this work) Provenance Auction Van Herck, Antwerp 15/03/1954, auction 77 cat. nr. 24 reprod. (listed there as identified by Max Friedländer)

Literature To be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné by Mr. Richard Comyn

Exhibition "Exposition de l'oeuvre de Constantin Meunier" KUL, Leuven 1909, cf. nr. 14
"Constantin Meunier" Chicago 1913-14, cf. nr. 11
"Ausstellung Alter und Neuer Belgischer Kunst" Kunstmuseum und Kunsthalle, Bern 1926, cf. nr. 158
"Exposition Constantin Meunier" Gal. Breckpot, Brussels 1927, cf. nr. 3 Literature "Hommage à Constantin Meunier" Sura Levine & Françoise Urban, Gal. Maurice Tzwern, Brussels 1998, cf. cat. nr. 19 reprod.
"Constantin Meunier. Sa vie, son oeuvre" Micheline Jerome-Schotsmans, Olivier Bertrand Éditions, 2012, cf. nr. 112 reprod.

Exhibition "Salon de l'Art Contemporain. XXXe Anniversaire de la Société" Brussels 1935, nr. 166 Literature Included in the catalogue raisonné by Georges Frédéric, son of the artist, nr. 324

Literature The authenticity was confirmed to us by Mr. Olivier Bertrand and this work will be included in the online catalogue raisonné.

Literature "George Minne" Leo van Puyvelde, Collection Les Contemporains, Brussels 1930, cf. nr. 23 Pl21
"George Minne en de kunst rond 1900" MvSK, Ghent 1982, exhibition cat., cf. nr. 59 p. 132-133
"George Minne: Das Frühwerk und seine Rezeption in Deutschland und Österreich bis zum Ersten Welt-krieg" Inga Rossi-Schrimpf, Verlag und Datenbank für Geisteswissenschaften, Weimar 2012, cf. cat. nr. P17 p. 370-371 (reprod. of another copy)

Exhibition "Théo Van Rysselberghe" Gal. Georges Giroux, Brussels 1926, nr. 41 Literature "Théo Van Rysselberghe. Catalogue raisonné" Ronald Feltkamp, Les Éditions de l'amateur/ Éditions Racine, Brussels 2003, cf. nr. P-006 reprod. of the larger version (152 x 175 cm)
To be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné by Mr. Olivier Bertrand

Provenance owned by the family of the present owner for approx. 50 years

Literature "Jean Brusselmans" Robert-L. Delevoy, Catalogue Raisonné established by G. Brys-Schatan, Ed. Laconti Brussels 1972, cf. cat. nr. 545 A reprod. (another copy)
"Retrospectieve Jean Brusselmans" Groeningemuseum, Bruges 1980, cf. cat. nr. 383 (another copy) Provenance coll. Armand Brusselmans

Exhibition "Ossip Zadkine" Gal. Schmit, Paris 1970, cf. nr. 49 reprod.
"Ossip Zadkine" Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York 1971, cf. nr. 36 reprod.
"Ossip Zadkine" Gal. Conkright, Caracas 1972, cf. nr. 15 reprod.
"Ossip Zadkine" Artcurial, Paris 1979 Literature "Zadkine. Catalogue Raisonné des sculptures" Ionel Jianou, Éd. Arted, Paris 1979, cf. cat. nr. 475, Pl. 62 reprod.
"Ossip Zadkine. L'Oeuvre sculpté" Sylvain Lecombre, Éd. Paris-Musées 1994, cf. cat. nr. 319

Provenance Gal. Veranneman, Brussels, acquired there by the previous owner

Literature "George Grard. Monografie/Oeuvre-Catalogus" Stichting George Grard, Ed. Stichting Kunstboek 1995, cf. cat. nr. 105

Literature Mr. Gérard Galby has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work Provenance Gal. Sabine Wachters, Knokke-Heist

Exhibition "Roel D'Haese, 49 beeldjes in goud (1968-71)" Lens Fine Arts, Antwerp 1971 Literature "Roel D'Haese. Sculpturen-Sculptures" Catalogue Raisonné, Various authors, Lannoo, Tielt 2007, p. 60-61

Literature "Marcel Broodthaers" Jeu de Paume, Paris 1991, exhibition cat. p.56-57 reprod. & reprod. on the cover
"Marcel Broodthaers Collected Writings" Gloria Moure, Ed. Poligrafìa, Spain 2012, cf. p. 139 reprod.
"Marcel Broodthaers. A Retrospective" MOMA, New York; Reina Sofia, Madrid 2016, exhibition cat. p. 80-81 reprod.
"Les mots et les images" Ronny Van de Velde, Knokke 2016, p. 80-83 reprod.

Exhibition "Roger Raveel" PvSK, Brussels 1966, exhibition cat. nr. 50
Documenta IV, Kassel 1968
"Roger Raveel" Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster 1983
"De wonderlijke werkelijkheid van Roger Raveel - Het vroege werk" Cobra Museum, Amstelveen 2004 Literature "Het verschrikkelijke mooie leven. Roger Raveel. Schilderijen 1934-1967" Bernard Dewulf, Octave Scheire & Hans Sizoo, Ludion/Cera Foundation, Ghent 2003, nr. 350, p. 170 reprod.
"Roger Raveel en de Nieuwe Visie" Marc Ruyters, Ed. Snoeck, Ghent 2006, p. 249 reprod.
"Roger Raveel. Het overzicht. Schilderijen 1934-2013" Octave Scheire and others, Ludion, Antwerp 2013, p. 131 reprod. and reprod. on the coverbox

Exhibition "Biennale de la critique 1972-73/1973-74" Palais des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi; Kunst- en Cultureel Centrum, Ghent 1975
"100 jaar Campo" Campo & Campo, Antwerp 1997 Provenance Gal. Dobbelhoef, Kessel

Literature "Pol Spilliaert" Jaak Fontier, Lannoo, Tielt 2005, cf. p. 73 reprod. of the couple in bronze

Exhibition "Retrospectieve Jef Verheyen" PMMK, Ostend; Josef Albers Museum Quadrat, Bottrop (DE) 1994, exhibition cat. 5, p. 7 reprod. (rotated 180°) Literature this work was registered by the Jef Verheyen archive

Literature "Luc Tuymans Graphic Works 1989-2012" Manfred Sellink & Tommy Simoens, Ed. Ludion, 2012, cf. nr. 63.2

Provenance Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner