Artist of the month: Corneille
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Corneille (Cornelis
Guillaume van Beverloo) was born in Liege in Belgium in 1922, but of Dutch
ancestry. He was brought up in the Netherlands and studied art at the Academy of Art
in Amsterdam. Corneille was one of the founders of the REFLEX movement in 1948 and in 1949 he was also one of the founders of the COBRA group. |
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The COBRA group was
composed of young artists dedicated to the free form of expression in lively colours. The
group has had great influence on art in the world, but especially in Scandinavia.
Corneille´s countryman and for many years a near friend was Karel Appel, who also was one
of the founders of the group. During the COBRA period and until 1963 the works of Corneille were complex abstract figures with poorly defined demarcation lines. A good example from this period is "In the garden with a bird" from 1962 on the left. |
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In 1963 Corneille´s
style changes dramatically. He started painting on a table, thus with easier access
to all sites of the painting. The figures become less abstract with well defined
outlines. The colours are, however, still bright. Some other good examples are the
"Beauté bleue" and "Returning palm" on display in the ArtNetGallery. Another good example is "Femme et faune familiere"
left. |
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Through the years Corneille has travelled to many corners of the world and sometimes lived like a back-packer. These travels have had great influence on his work. Above are some examples like: "Africa" (on the left); in the middle "Soleil levant " (centre), which has obvious some influences from the Maya culture in Mexico. On the right "Le grande téte del l'été", which might be from anywhere |
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Since the 60ies the work by Corneille have been very characteristic - figuring a naked woman and a bird. From his paintings you get the impression that the bird is the artist in different parts of the world. When the bird is absent in the painting, the artist is there as above in "La peintre et son modéle". The bird, which sometimes is the only image, might therefore be an alternative self-portrait. |