René Mels (1909-1977) - Composition abstraite de 1970

René Mels (1909-1977) – Composition – 1970 – Watercolour – Signed and dated René Mels (1909-1977) Composition Watercolour on paper, 1970 Signature Signed “R. Mels” at the bottom right. Date in pencil, under the signature: “70”. Pencil inscription in the center of the sheet: “pri clouet / 200 - Jean clouet”. Verso: study in pencil, annotations barely legible. Dimensions 40 × 31.5 cm Sold unframed Condition Beautiful sheet, light tones preserved. Paper slightly yellowed with time, a few handling creases. The central inscription is original, in pencil, placed in a blank area of the composition. No major damage visible. The recto remains clear and bright. See photos. Description Watercolour from 1970, without a title inscription. The sheet is left largely white. On the left, long brown and olive strokes, almost tree trunks; in the center, green and black touches, an oblique line; on the right, pools of blue and gray, brushed diagonally. The white holds the middle. The gesture is dry, laid down by separate strokes, without filling in. The pencil inscription “pri clouet / 200 - Jean clouet” remains in the center, in the blank space. This is a sheet from the final period, in the same year as other dated 70 watercolours, more constructed than the washes of 1975. Vertical format. The color is noted by masses, the white does the rest. Biography René Mels (René Meulemans, 1909-1977) trained at the Academies of Leuven and Brussels, then at La Cambre. After an early expressionist phase influenced by Permeke, he moved from 1947 toward abstraction. Active member of the 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, flexibility of handling and expressive chromaticism. In 1950, a state grant allowed him to work at Stanley William Hayter’s Atelier 17 in Paris. His watercolours, prints, pastels and paintings are in numerous public Belgian and international collections, notably at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.

Estimate:$337.56

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