Marcus de Vestele (1941-2024) - Composition Cobra “ Les Masques “

Marcus de Vestele (1941-2024) The Masks Watercolour and ink on paper Signature: signed bottom right in green pencil MARCUS Dimensions: 48.5 × 35.5 cm Sold unframed Condition: generally good. Flexible sheet, colors held, true blacks. Light paper, no notable damage. On the back, studio stamp “Marcus de Vestele / Atelier de l’artiste”. Provenance: from the artist Marcus de Vestele’s studio. Description: A watercolor with ink and wash. A tightly grouped cluster in front of a yellow band. On the left, a leaning body, black head, ochre and pink hip, arm flung across. Behind him, two gray heads stacked, almost masks. In the center, a blue-gray silhouette, white-stripe on the torso, a closed face drawn with a black line, legs apart. To the right, a red and brown figure, square head opened with white. At the bottom right, a final pale, gray presence, barely contained. The background is not a setting: an irregular yellow field closes the group, the paper remains bare around it. The color does not describe; it holds the bodies. Quick ink, broad washes, adjustments on the faces. Direct gesture, figures barely held, in the restrained primitive figuration of Cobra. Sheet issued directly from the studio. Biography: Marcus de Vestele (1941-2024) was a Belgian artist best known first as a marble sculptor, notably in Carrara and in Bardiglio. At the same time, he led a lifelong production on paper, long kept in the studio, now sought after. Strongly marked by Cobra (Karel Appel, Asger Jorn, Pierre Alechinsky, Corneille, Constant), he retained the rough figure, the spontaneous stroke, and the tension between body and abstraction. This watercolour is an example: ink and wash, presence held more by color than by drawing.

Estimate:£338.46

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