Maurice Wyckaert (15 November 1923 – 17 July 1996) was a Belgian artist. He is a neo-expressionistic, lyrical abstract painter, gouache designer and printmaker. He was educated at the

Academy of Brussels An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

(1940–1947 and 1949–1950) and in

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode ( French, ) or Sint-Joost-ten-Node ( Dutch, ), often simply called Saint-Josse in French or Sint-Joost in Dutch, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part o ...

and the Vrije Atelier of

Woluwe-Saint-Lambert Woluwe-Saint-Lambert ( French, ) or Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe ( Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). In French, ...

. He debuted with wonderful expressionistic still life, reminiscent of Jean Brusselmans. Much early work dealt with stills of vegetables. Later Wyckaert became interested by William Turner and

James Ensor James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for most of his life. He was associated with the artistic ...

and their ideas of luminism. In 1955 Wyckaert started to lyrically abstract interpret his environment, which contained noticeable influences of Eastern calligraphy. From this, he evolved to a dynamic abstract combination of attractive colors, which harmoniously shape a free interpretation of landscape. Although Wyckaert was already critically acclaimed, by receiving several honors such as the Jules Raeymaekers of the Royal Academy Award, an honorable mention by JPB (1957) and an honorable mention by

São Paulo Art Biennial The São Paulo Art Biennial ( Portuguese: ''Bienal de São Paulo'') was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennale (in existence since 1895), which serves as ...

(1961), his true breakthrough began at the beginning of the 1970s. Around this time he started experimenting with gouache, printmaking and lithography. Wyckaert was known for his pro-active involvement in several art movements such as being the Co-founder of Belgian art magazine ''De Meridiaan'' and ''Taptoe Brussels'' (1955). Also he was a member of Présence (1949), the

Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

(SI) and the

International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus The International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus was a small European avant-garde artistic tendency that arose out of the breakup of COBRA, and was initiated by contact between former COBRA members Asger Jorn and Enrico Baj and Sergio Dangelo ...

Letter
and well known for his influence and intimate friendship with several

CoBrA COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

-members. He was honored by the SI to read th
''Declaration in the Name of the Fourth SI Conference to the Institute of Contemporary Arts,''
at the

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

on 28 September 1960. After the city of Brussels started with art projects to enhance their underground, Wyckaert was appointed to decorate the Jacques Brel metro station. He has exhibited his work in several renowned museums from Rome to

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Chief Editor of 'De Meridiaan'

''De Meridiaan'', later published as De kunst-meridiaan, was a

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

literary magazine that published bimonthly in Belgium and the Netherlands from 1951 until 1960. It was founded by Belgian artist Maurice Wyckaert, poet Clara Haesaert and her husband Gentil Haesaert. De Meridiaan was the main competitor of ''Tijd en Mens'', another literary magazine. Because of its success the magazine evolved from a basic regional magazine to a well-known international art magazine. In 1955 De Meridiaan founded ''Galerie Taptoe'', an artistic centrum, exhibition room and literary café in Brussels.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyckaert, Maurice 1923 births 1996 deaths Artists from Brussels Situationists 20th-century Belgian painters Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Brussels alumni