Marcus de Vestele (1941-2024) - Composition Cobra « Les...

Marcus de Vestele (1941-2024) The Dancers Ink and wash on paper, 1970s Signature: Unsigned on the front Stamp of the workshop on the back: “Marcus de Vestele – Atelier de l’artiste” Dimensions: 50 × 38.5 cm Sold unframed Condition: Good overall workshop condition. Cream paper, some light signs of aging consistent with a work from the 1970s coming directly from the artist’s studio. Clean recto. Provenance: Artist’s workshop of Marcus de Vestele. Description: Cobra composition by Marcus de Vestele, 1970s. Two dancers stand facing each other in a field of gray wash. The line is black, continuous, economical. On the left, the body is angular: visor or headdress, circled knee, leg thrust forward. On the right, the figure is more rounded, dark hair, foot raised, hip and torso indicated in a single gesture. The background is broad and brushed, more agitated on the left, more open on the right. The paper’s whiteness remains visible within the bodies. The movement is suspended, without anecdote. The contrast is sharp between the firm outline and the free wash. Primitive, almost sculptural figuration — the sculptor is readable in the volume of the knees and hips — and Cobra tension between human presence and abstraction. Theatrical quality. A characteristic piece of Marcus de Vestele’s paper production from the 1970s, directly from the artist’s studio. Biography: Marcus de Vestele (1941-2024) was a Belgian artist best known as a marble sculptor (notably in Carrara and with Bardiglio marble). Alongside his sculptural practice, he developed throughout his life a significant pictorial output, long kept private and today sought after by collectors. Strongly influenced by the Cobra movement (Karel Appel, Asger Jorn, Pierre Alechinsky, Corneille, Constant), he retained its primitive figuration, spontaneous line, and the tension between figure and abstraction. His paper works from the 1970s combine the discipline of the sculptor with a free gestural approach. Directly from the atelier, this body of work represents an essential facet of his oeuvre.

Estimate:£335.8

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