Édouard Léon Théodore Mesens (27 November 1903 – 13 May 1971) was a Belgian artist and writer associated with the Belgian

Surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

movement.

Biography

Mesens was born in Brussels, Belgium. He started his artistic career as a musician influenced by

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...

and an author of

dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

ist poems. He was a publisher of the books ''Œesophage'' and ''Marie''with his lifetime friend and soulmate

René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgium, Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature ...

. His activity as one of the leaders of the

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

movement in Belgium was eased by him being an owner of a gallery, where he organised the first surrealist exhibition in Belgium in 1934. He also went to co-organise the London International Surrealist Exhibition, which made him settle in London. There he became the director of the London Gallery (which he ran during the late 1930s and after the war with

Roland Penrose Sir Roland Algernon Penrose (14 October 1900 – 23 April 1984) was an English artist, historian and poet. He was a major promoter and collector of modern art and an associate of the surrealists in the United Kingdom. During the Second World ...

) and the chief editor of the ''

London Bulletin ''London Bulletin'' was a monthly avant-garde art magazine which was affiliated with the London Gallery between April 1938 and June 1940. It was one of the most significant surrealist publications. History and profile The plans to launch the mag ...

'' (1938–1940), which was one of the most important bulletins among the English-language Surrealist periodicals. Mesens died in 1971 following a "long, lingering, painful illness".Franklin Rosemont, "E.L.T. Mesens", in ''Radical America'', vol. 6, no. 1 (Jan.–Feb. 1972), pp. 103–107. According to an obituary published by poet and historian Franklin Rosemont, Mesens committed "suicide by

absinthe Absinthe (, ) is an anise-flavored Liquor, spirit derived from several plants, including the flowers and leaves of ''Artemisia absinthium'' ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. His ...

", drinking himself to death by wilfully disregarding doctors' orders to abstain from alcohol.

Works

* ''Alphabet sourd aveugle'' - Flamel, Brussels - with preface and a note by

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

(1933) * ''Troisième Front'' - London Gallery Editions (1944) * ''Free Unions - Unions Libres'' - Directed by Simon Watson Taylor (1946) * ''The Cubist Spirit in Its Time'' - London Gallery Editions - with Robert Melville (1947) * ''Poèmes, 1923–1958'' - Le Terrain Vague (1959)

References

External links

Tate Collection
- Four works by ELT Mesens
Inventory of the E. L. T. Mesens papers
- at the Getty Research Institute {{DEFAULTSORT:Mesens, E L T 1903 births 1971 deaths Belgian artists Belgian surrealist writers Belgian writers in French 1971 suicides Belgian expatriates in the United Kingdom Belgian art dealers British art dealers

Biography

Works

References

Further reading

External links