Fernand Berckelaers (10 March 1901, in

Borgerhout Borgerhout () is the smallest districts of Antwerp, district of Antwerp, Belgium. , the district housed 45,769 inhabitants on 3.93 km². It was an independent municipality until January 1983. The postal area code for Borgerhout is 2140. Geography ...

– 12 February 1999, in Paris),

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Michel Seuphor (

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...

), was a Belgian painter. Seuphor established a literary magazine, '' Het Overzicht'', in Antwerp in 1921. He moved in Dutch, Belgian, and French

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

circles. He associated at various points with

Theo van Doesburg Theo van Doesburg (; born Christian Emil Marie Küpper; 30 August 1883 – 7 March 1931) was a Dutch painter, writer, poet and architect. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl. He married three times. Personal life Theo van Do ...

and

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch Painting, painter and Theory of art, art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He w ...

, and was influenced by their iconic Neo-plasticist works. Along with Joaquin Torres-Garcia and Pierre Daura, Seuphor founded the abstract artists' group

Cercle et Carré Cercle is French for ''circle''. It can refer to: * Circle (administrative division) * Cercle (French colonial), an administrative unit of the French Overseas Empire * Cercle (Mali), the Malian administrative unit ** The specific Cercles of Mal ...

which included

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky ( – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstract art, abstraction in western art. Born in Moscow, he spent his childhood in ...

and

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

. In 1934, Seuphor moved to

Anduze Anduze (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Gard Departments of France, department in southern France.Anduze", Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. II, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1878, p. 24 . The village is at the foot of the ...

in the

South of France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

following his marriage. Seuphor wrote and edited five books; ''A Dictionary of Abstract Painting'' (Tudor Publishing Co., 1958), ''Abstract Painting: 50 Years of Accomplishment'' (Dell Laurel Edition, 1964), "The Sculpture of this Century" (George Braziller, Inc. NY, 1960), "Piet Mondrian: Life and Work" (Thames & Hudson, 1956) and "Abstract Painting in Flanders (Fonds Mercator, 1974). These volumes, now out of print, remain among the most valuable documents of abstract painting & sculpture in the 20th century. The painting books have numerous color illustrations which document the various paths that abstract painting took, especially after World War II. The sculpture book has black & white photos that track both figurative as well as abstract sculpture from early 20th century through 1959. Also contains a short bio in the back of the book on each sculptor mentioned. Seuphor also assisted with the Tudor companion volume of his ''Dictionary of Abstract Painting'', the ''Dictionary of Modern Painting'', which documents all the various schools of painting in the 20th century, including both abstract and realist painting. Seuphor contributed to many exhibition catalogues. He also owned a contemporary art collection of works by

Marcelle Cahn Marcelle Cahn (March 1, 1895 - September 20, 1981) was a French painter and one of the members of Abstraction-Création. She was born in a Jewish family of Strasbourg, Alsace Adam Jankowski Adam Jankowski (born 1948 in Gdańsk, Poland) is an Austrian painter and professor at the Offenbach University of Art & Design. His studio is located in St. Pauli, Hamburg, Germany. The early work of Jankowski is closely related to the '68 mov ...

, Jean Piaubert,

Jean Gorin Albert Jean Gorin (2 December 1899 – 29 March 1981) was a French neoplastic painter and constructive sculptor. He was a disciple of Piet Mondrian, and remained true to the concept of rigid geometricism and use of primary colors, but pushed the ...

, Jean Miotte,

Aurélie Nemours Aurelie Nemours (29 October 1910 – 27 January 2005) was a French painter who made abstract geometrical paintings and was highly influenced by De Stijl, or neoplasticism. Biography Aurelie Nemours was born 29 October 1910 in Paris, France. ...

and

Victor Vasarely Victor Vasarely (; born Győző Vásárhelyi, ; 9 April 1906 – 15 March 1997) was a Hungarian-French artist, who is widely accepted as a "grandfather" and leader of the Op art movement. His work titled ''Zebra'', created in 1937, i ...

References

Sources

Michel Seuphor
information on Seuphor

article on Seuphor * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seuphor, Michel 20th-century Belgian painters 1901 births 1999 deaths Belgian abstract painters Belgian magazine founders People from Borgerhout