René Mels (1909-1977) - Composition abstraite 1975

FR : Payment required before the evening of October 25. No shipments possible from October 26 for nearly 3 weeks (absence). ——- René Mels (1909-1977) – Composition – 1975 – Watercolor – Signed and dated René Mels (1909-1977) Composition Watercolor on paper, 1975 Signature: Signed “R. Mels” at the bottom right. Date in pencil, below or near the signature: “75”. Verso blank, except for a few small workshop marks and a small hole. Dimensions: 42 × 29.5 cm Sold unframed Condition Beautiful sheet, light, luminous tones well preserved. Paper slightly yellowed with age, a few light handling creases. Small mark on the verso. No significant loss visible. The recto remains clean and airy. See photos. Description a Watercolor from 1975, untitled. The composition is organized with fluid, overlapping washes. At the top, a wide horizontal blue band; in the center and to the left, vertical masses of yellow and ochre, punctuated by denser green and blue shapes that evoke foliage or organic silhouettes. At the bottom, pinks and mauves spread in soft curves. The white of the paper largely remains, giving light to the whole. The gesture is more fluid and airy than in the gestural works of the 1960s: the water has worked freely, contours blend, colors overlap without hardening. It is a sheet from the final period, signed and dated, two years before Mels’s death. Horizontal format. The color is noted by transparent masses, the stroke is discreet. A characteristic work of the end of Mels’s career: gentle chromaticism, spontaneity of the wash, balance between landscape suggestion and pure abstraction. Biography René Mels (René Meulemans, 1909-1977) trained at the Academies of Leuven and Brussels, then at La Cambre. After an Expressionist start influenced by Permeke, he moved in 1947 toward abstraction. Active member of Young Belgian Painting (exhibitions 1947-1948 at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels), he joined the group Abstract Art in 1952 and co-founded Cap d’encre in 1963. His work is characterized by construction, flexible handling, and expressive chromaticism. In 1950, a state grant enabled him to work at Stanley William Hayter’s Atelier 17 in Paris. His watercolors, engravings, pastels, and paintings are housed in numerous public Belgian and international collections, notably the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.

Estimate:£253.53

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