Page 18 - Art at Mayfair Hotel Tunneln

Corneille: Composition, 1998. Ceramics, 52 x 42 cm.
Corneille is best known as a member of the avant-gardist artist group CoBrA which in the years between 1948 and 1951 created expressionist painting. With a thoroughly experimenting approach to artistic creation CoBrA created a path for painting which diverted from the simple minimalist form that was
led by formalist and constructivist artists. With CoBrA there was a focus on playful and almost naïve shapes and figures combined with the colourful abstractions of expressionist painting. Cobra had an international outlook and consisted of artists from Denmark, The Netherlands and Belgium. Corneille is from Belgium and with his contact to the movement he was under influence of artists such as Joan Miró and Paul Klee. Corneille’s artwork Composition from 1998 is a ceramic relief and the heritage from CoBrA is revealed in his use of simple, symbolically loaded figures such as the woman, the sun, the cat, and the bird.
Corneille (Cornelis Guillame van Beverlo, 1922-2010, B) studied at the art academy in Amsterdam from 1943 till 1946 and he had his first solo exhibition in 1946 in Groningen. In 1948, Corneille founded the group REFLEX together with Karel Appel and Constant. REFLEX exhibited art and published journals. Same year CoBrA was founded. Besides from Corneille the group consisted of Danish Asger Jorn and Carl-Henning Pedersen, Appel, and Constant, among others. Corneille’s works are part of the collections at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, DK; The National Gallery of Denmark, DK; KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art, DK; Randers Art Museum, DK and The Jorn Museum, DK.
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