Corneille - Litho 68/88 - signed - 1977

Corneille was born in 1922 in Liège (Belgium) as Guillaume Corneille van Bervloo. Both parents are Dutch. Lithography is seen as the best form of expression for Corneille. In the press his representations are fixed, strictly behind the cheerful colours. His works of art are always exuberant in colour and often seem like passages from a story or a poem. Early work In 1940 Corneille moved to Amsterdam where he took a course in drawing and etching at the Rijksacademie Voor Beeldende Kunsten. As a painter, however, Corneille was self-taught. His great source of inspiration were the distant journeys he made. In his early work from the 1950s, Africa was a great source of inspiration. In the early 1960s, this shifted to Central America and the Caribbean. This shift is noticeable in the exuberant use of colour, which has much in common with the folk arts he encountered there. Women, cats and birds have been a great fascination for Corneille throughout his career. They can often be admired in his depictions, whether or not in combination with each other. Cobra Together with Karel Appel and Constant, among others, Corneille founded the Dutch Experimental Group in 1948. This group later that year represented the Dutch branch of the CoBrA group that was founded in Paris. The group only existed for three years, but was known to such a large audience that even today CoBrA still lives on. In 1950, Corneille moved to Paris. He continued to travel the world, but Paris became his home base from then on. Corneille's work can be seen in many countries. Because his work can now also be admired on watches and ties, for example, his art is also made accessible to a young audience.