René Mels (1909-1977) - Composition abstraite 1965

FR : Payment required before the evening of October 25. No shipments possible from October 26 for nearly 3 weeks (absence). EN : Payment required before the evening of October 25. No shipments possible from October 26 for nearly 3 weeks (absence). —- René Mels (1909-1977) – Abstract composition – Circa 1965-1970 – Watercolor and ink – Signed René Mels (1909-1977) Abstract composition Watercolor and ink on paper, circa 1965-1970 Signature: Signed “Mels” (or monogram) at the bottom right. Verso blank, except for a few small workshop marks. Dimensions: 41.5 × 30 cm Sold unframed Condition Beautiful sheet, colors vivid and well preserved. Paper slightly aged, a few light handling creases. No major loss visible. The recto remains clean, bright and expressive. See photos. Description Gestural abstract composition by René Mels, created in the 1960s-1970s. Colored washes (blues, yellows, pinks, violets, oranges, greens) overlap in fluid masses and blotches. On top, a dense network of black ink lines – scribbles, loops, hatches and nerve-like lines – traverses the composition and structures the movement. The white of the paper remains largely present in the center and on the right, giving air and highlighting the vivacity of the colors and the tension of the lines. The gesture is free and dual: watercolor lays down the color masses and transparencies, ink defines the drawing and provides the graphic rhythm. It bears the typical balance of Mels between expressive chromaticism and nervous writing, characteristic of his lyrical abstract period. A living, dense, decorative work, very characteristic of the artist’s maturity. Biography René Mels (René Meulemans, 1909-1977) was trained at the Academies of Leuven and Brussels, then at La Cambre. After an early expressionist phase influenced by Permeke, he moved in 1947 toward abstraction. Active member of Jeune Peinture Belge (exhibitions 1947-1948 at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels), he joined the group Art abstrait in 1952 and co-founded Cap d’encre in 1963. His work is characterized by a concern for construction, a flexible handwriting and expressive chromaticism. In 1950, a state grant allowed him to work at Stanley William Hayter’s Atelier 17 in Paris. His watercolors, engravings, pastels and paintings are held in numerous Belgian and international public collections, notably at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.

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