Room 8

Designed in 1927 and manufactured by the Les Anciennes Usines Annoye in 1928. In the 20’, the artist began to design furnitures, many of them made with metal tubes and polychrome lacquer with a cellulose basis. He took part in several Salons d’Automne in Paris. In 1930 he opened his design showroom in Brussels, where he attracted important personalities of the European avant-garde such as Kurt Schwitters and Paul Klee. In 1937, inspired by the furniture Silex (1905) by Gustave Serrurier-Bovy, he exhibited his pieces of furniture Standax, which the buyer could assemble and dismantle, at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne, in Paris. His biographer, Robert Vivier, described the design work by Baugniet as “a balance between aeshteticism and human y content”. As early as 1926, Baugniet, Henry van de Velde and Victor Servranckx published a design furniture project at the avant-garde Polish Blok. The experts agree that the first  tubular nickel-plated chair was designed by Marcel Breuer in 1926; Baugniet designed this tubular chair the following year and had it produced one more year after, and in this way he established himself in the avant-garde of tubular nickel-plated furniture. The same year 1927, Baugniet and his partner Ewaud Van Tonderen founded a company of furniture design in Brussels. Two years before he had created the Union des Artistes Modernes (UAM), the first French movement of Modernist design, which introduced this sort of furniture in France. Even though Baugniet wanted to democratise his designs, his customers were wealthy people; because of that, his tubular nickel-plated pieces of furniture are scarce. The artist designed two models of his chair: this one, less usual, with seats upholstered in imitation lamb’s wool, and the other, without upholstery.

One of the main exponents of abstract art in Belgium. He was born in Liège and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, alongside Delvaux and Magritte. From 1921-1922 he lived in Paris; he discovered Constructivism through artists such as Frantisek Kupka and became a spokesperson for this movement in Belgium. From 1923 he collaborated in the magazine 7 Arts, a bridge between Belgian art and the international avant-garde, gathered around the notion of “pure plastic”. He was also a furniture designer, heavily influenced by the Bauhaus movement. From 1930 to 1972 he had a decoration shop and workshop in Brussels, Baugniet et Cie. He exhibited his furniture at the Monza and Milan triennials (1930-1933-1935) and at the International Exhibitions in Brussels (1935) and Paris (1937). He also created sets, costumes and posters, especially for his wife, dancer Marguerite Acarin (“Akarova”), and was an art critic; all his aesthetic essays were compiled at the end of the 80s in the volume Vers une synthèse esthétique et sociale. He took part in numerous exhibitions and his work was represented in important public and private collections. In 2001, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Liège dedicated a large retrospective to all his creative facets. Signed and dated bottom right: M – L Baugniet 1925. Id. and title on the back. It featured at the exhibition Les premiers abstraits wallons: Baugniet, Closon, Engel-Pak, Lacasse, Lempereur-Haut, organised by Le centre wallon d’art contemporain de la Communauté française de Belgique, Flemalle (Ramet), 1984-85; reproduced in the catalogue. After having discovered the Czech artist Frantisek Kupka, he devotes himself geometric abstraction. In 1923, together with Pierre and Victor Bourgeois, Félix de Boeck, Marc Eemans, Pierre-Louis Flouquet, Karel Maes, René Magritte, Jozef Peeters, Victor Servranckx and others, he becomes an active member of the Belgian avant-garde group 7 Arts,  around the homonymous magazine, and a prominent representant of the European constructivist movement; together with Oskar Schlemmer, Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, Fernand Léger and many others he mantains close ties with the baroness Hélène de Mandrot and her Maison des Artistes, at Château de La Sarraz, in the vicinity of Lausanne.  

Born in Mol (Belgium), painter and designer of applied arts, he belongs to the first generation of Belgian abstract artists. He attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, where he met Flouquet, Magritte and Servranckx. Once the war was over, he experimented with Neo-Impressionism, Futurism and Post-Cubism; he soon rejected figuration in favour of geometric and biomorphic art. In 1920 he joined the avant-garde group Art Centre in Antwerp; that year he took part in the Exposition Internationale d’Art Moderne in Geneva with Cockx, Magritte and Peeters, in 1923 in Les arts belges d’esprit nouveau, at the Palais d’Egmont in Brussels, and in 1925 in the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Arts in Monza. In 1922 he signed (as the only Belgian) the De Stijl manifesto. He was co-founder of the revolutionary group 7 Arts. In 1927, an article in the eponymous magazine described his work as la plastique pure, a categorically concrete art, an extreme evolution of Cubism. At that time he was teaching at the Bauhaus. Retrospectives have been dedicated to him: Antwerp 1992, Brussels 2007. He has work in the Archives of Modern Architecture in Brussels, the MoMA in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent, and in the Lakenhal Museum in Leiden, the Tate Modern in London and many others.

A painter, graphic artist and designer born in Antwerp. With Donas, Eemans, Flouquet, Léonard, Maes, Servranckx and Vantongerloo he forms the group of the first abstract artists of Belgium. In 1913 he entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, although he was most interested in personal experimentation. In 1914 he painted “Luminist” landscapes and portraits. In 1915-1917, inspired by Theosophy, he moved towards Symbolism. In 1918 he met Marinetti and joined the Futurist movement. With Van Dooren and Cockx he founded the Modern Art group in Antwerp, which established international contacts, for example with the Der Sturm gallery, Berlin’s avant-garde centre, and organised three art congresses accompanied by exhibitions. He showed his first abstract painting in 1920. He took part in international exhibitions such as those in Geneva in 1921 and Budapest in 1924. He collaborated with avant-garde magazines such as Het Overzicht, which he co-founded in 1921, as well as De Driehoekin 1925, which supported constructivism. His work is in the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Ghent and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Belgium in Antwerp and Brussels. His work has been exhibited in museums around the world, such as Leiden’s Lakenhal and London’s Tate Modern.

Born in Elberfeld (Germany). After studying sculpture and architecture, he began to make abstract sculptures, but soon moved on to classical and post-Cubist sculpture. In 1927 he went to Paris; he got involved with the avant-garde and established a friendship with Maillol. He studied the human body and began his long “classical period”. In 1932 he went to Italy to deepen his knowledge of ancient art; he returned in 1934, when the Nazis were already in power. He was opposed to the policy of “degenerate art” but carried on with his official commissions, which began in 1930. In 1937 he was professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin and between 1938 and 1945 he collaborated with Albert Speer in Hitler’s plans for the new Berlin, with athletic and monumental sculptures for the new buildings. He also collaborated with architect Werner March on the grounds for the Nazi party assemblies in Nuremberg. In 1940, Stalin invited him to work in the USSR. In 1942 he exhibited in occupied Paris; in 1948 he was included in the denazification processes. He would continue to work in different styles until a later age. After his death, the Arno Breker Museum was founded in Nörwenich Castle, near Cologne and Bonn.  

Gutensohn was born in Munich and studied graphic art from 1913 to 1915 at the Munich Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Arts and Crafts) under Fritz Helmuth Ehmcke. He worked as a designer for various textile companies, such as Wallach, and after 1945 as an illustrator for numerous publishers in Munich. In 1932 he became a member of the Association of Revolutionary Visual Artists of Germany. He was the partner of the Korean writer Mirok Li, who died in 1950. He participated in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Second International Exhibition of Lithography and Wood Engraving (1930-1931). Much of his work was destroyed in the 1944 and 1945 bombing of Munich. The Lebachhaus Museum has 16 woodcuts by Gutensohn, some of them dated 1955, 1958 and 1966.

He was born in Paris and in 1910 the family moved to Brussels, where he studied with Constant Montald and Gisbert Combaz at the Academy of Fine Arts. He is related to the avant-garde artists of Antwerp, Berlin, Brussels, Lausanne and Paris; shares a studio with Magritte in Brussels. In modernist circles he is known for his abstractions and biomorphic and geometric works. In 1921 he participated in the International Exhibition of Modern Art in Geneva and, with Magritte, in the Center d’Art in Brussels. Co-founder of the avant-garde group 7 Arts; He is responsible for the painting section of his magazine and its illustrator. With Eisenstein, Ernst, Gropius, Schlemmer, Servranckx and others he is a regular guest at the Maison des Artistes of Baroness Hélène de Mandrot, at her Château de La Sarraz, near Lausanne, where the First International Congress of Modern Architecture was held. the First Independent Cinema Congress in 1929 and many other revolutionary artistic manifestations at the beginning of the century. Hélène de Mandrot, like Katherine Dreier and Gertrude Stein, is one of the pillars of modern art. In 1925, Flouquet founded the L’Assaut group with Gailliard and organized exhibitions under their aegis. Becoming the leader of La Plastique Pure, he regularly exhibits abroad: Buenos Aires, Chicago, Leipzig, Madrid, Monza, New York, Paris, Philadelphia and Zurich; solo, in 1925 at the Der Sturm gallery and in 1927 at the Deutsche Werkbund in Stuttgart, founded by Henry van de Velde, who invited him. He designed many covers for the revolutionary art magazine Der Sturm. His work is represented in museums such as the Fine Arts Museum in Brussels and Antwerp, Ghent and the avant-garde Musée de Grenoble; It has been exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum Lakenhal in Leiden, Ghent and the Tate Modern in London, among others.

 

One of the protagonists of the Belgian avant-garde, he was born in Diegem (Belgium) and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, where he graduated in 1917 with the highest distinction and met Maes, Flouquet, Baugniet and Magritte. Between 1917 and 1919 he developed Symbolism. From 1917 he took part in various group exhibitions; in 1918, together with Magritte, he developed applied arts as a designer for Peters-Lacroix’s wallpaper factory, an experience that led him from Fauvism to geometric abstraction. In 1920 he joined the La Plastique Pure movement. In 1922 he co-founded the magazine 7 Arts and with Magritte wrote the manifesto L’art pur. Défense de l’estéthique, influenced by Le Corbusier, Ozenfant and Reverdy’s cubist theories. Inspired by Baumeister and purists, he abandoned figuration for abstraction; he geometrically evoked the world of machine and technology. In 1918 he exhibited his work for the first time at l’Effort Moderne, a meeting place for Cubists since World War II; there he met Marinetti, Van Doesburg, Léger and Duchamp. In 1926, thanks to Duchamp, he participated in the exhibitions of the Katherine Dreyer Corporation in America and was invited by Moholy-Nagy to teach at the New Bauhaus in Chicago, an offer he refused. He received a gold medal at the International Exhibition of Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris (1925). In 1926 he created the first “surrealist” and “organic” abstractions, before Ernst. In 1928 he exhibited at Der Sturm. He represented Belgium at the 1948 and 1954 Venice Biennials. The Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels organised a major retrospective; his works can be seen in the MoMA, the Berardo collection in Lisbon, the Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, the Museum of Fine Arts of Ghent, National d’Art Moderne of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris or the Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium in Antwerp and Brussels. His paintings, sculptures and works on paper have been exhibited in museums such as Leiden’s Lakenhal and London’s Tate Modern. Signed and dated bottom right: SERVRANCKX. In the original frame designed by the artist. Provenance: Victor Servranckx, Elewyt, Belgium; inherited by his son, Paul Servranckx, Brussels. Exhibited in 194, Servranckx, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels; 1950, La peinture belge contemporaine, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon; 1957, Homage à Servranckx à l’occasion de son soixantième anniversaire, Galerie “Les contemporains”, Brussels; 1958, L’Art du XXIe siècle, Palais des Expositions, Charleroi; 1958, Servranckx, pionier van de abstracte kunst, Concertgebouw, Bruges; 1958, Exposition Mobile, Peintures d’avant-garde, Galerie “Les contemporains”, Brussels; 1959, XXXVe Salon du Cercle Royal Artistique et Littéraire de Charleroi, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi;1959, Hassenhuis, Antwerp ;1960, The Arts of Belgium, Parke-Bernet Galleries ; 1962, XXXIe Biennale; 1963, Profile II – Belgische Kunst Heute, Städtische Kunstgalerie, Bochum;1963, Belgische Künstler von der Jahrhundertwende bis zur Gegenwart, Kunstgebäude am Schlossplatz Stuttgart, Stuttgart; 1965, Servranckx, Musée d’Ixelles, Ixelles;1970, Retrospectieve tentoonstelling Victor Servranckx 1897-1965, Provinciaal Begijnhof, Hasselt; 1989, Victor Servranckx 1897-1965 et l’art abstrait, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels; 2013, Modernisme, L’art abstrait belge et l’Europe, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent, 2013

Signed and dated upper left: SERVRANCKX 1923  Exhibited in 2013 at Modernisme, L’art abstrait belge et l’Europe, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent, n° 4.88

Signed and dated bottom left: SERVRANCKX 1927   Provenance: Jacqueline Errera, Brussels; private collection (acquired from the prevoious one). Exhibited at the retrospective Servranckx, Musée d’Ixelles, Brussels, 1965, and at id. Victor Servranckx 1897 – 1965, Rubenskasteel, Elewijt, Belgium.

Signed and dated bottom left: SERVRANCKX 1927  

Provenance: Jacqueline Errera, Brussels; private collection (acquired from the prevoious one). Exhibited at the retrospective Servranckx, Musée d’Ixelles, Brussels, 1965, and at id. Victor Servranckx 1897 – 1965, Rubenskasteel, Elewijt, Belgium.

One of the protagonists of the Belgian avant-garde, he was born in Diegem (Belgium) and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, where he graduated in 1917 with the highest distinction and met Maes, Flouquet, Baugniet and Magritte. Between 1917 and 1919 he developed Symbolism. From 1917 he took part in various group exhibitions; in 1918, together with Magritte, he developed applied arts as a designer for Peters-Lacroix’s wallpaper factory, an experience that led him from Fauvism to geometric abstraction. In 1920 he joined the La Plastique Pure movement. In 1922 he co-founded the magazine 7 Arts and with Magritte wrote the manifesto L’art pur. Défense de l’estéthique, influenced by Le Corbusier, Ozenfant and Reverdy’s cubist theories. Inspired by Baumeister and purists, he abandoned figuration for abstraction; he geometrically evoked the world of machine and technology. In 1918 he exhibited his work for the first time at l’Effort Moderne, a meeting place for Cubists since World War II; there he met Marinetti, Van Doesburg, Léger and Duchamp. In 1926, thanks to Duchamp, he participated in the exhibitions of the Katherine Dreyer Corporation in America and was invited by Moholy-Nagy to teach at the New Bauhaus in Chicago, an offer he refused. He received a gold medal at the International Exhibition of Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris (1925). In 1926 he created the first “surrealist” and “organic” abstractions, before Ernst. In 1928 he exhibited at Der Sturm. He represented Belgium at the 1948 and 1954 Venice Biennials. The Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels organised a major retrospective; his works can be seen in the MoMA, the Berardo collection in Lisbon, the Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, the Museum of Fine Arts of Ghent, National d’Art Moderne of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris or the Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium in Antwerp and Brussels. His paintings, sculptures and works on paper have been exhibited in museums such as Leiden’s Lakenhal and London’s Tate Modern.

Signed and dated bottom right: SERVRANCKX.

In the original frame designed by the artist. Provenance: Victor Servranckx, Elewyt, Belgium; inherited by his son, Paul Servranckx, Brussels. Exhibited in 194, Servranckx, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels; 1950, La peinture belge contemporaine, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon; 1957, Homage à Servranckx à l’occasion de son soixantième anniversaire, Galerie “Les contemporains”, Brussels; 1958, L’Art du XXIe siècle, Palais des Expositions, Charleroi; 1958, Servranckx, pionier van de abstracte kunst, Concertgebouw, Bruges; 1958, Exposition Mobile, Peintures d’avant-garde, Galerie “Les contemporains”, Brussels; 1959, XXXVe Salon du Cercle Royal Artistique et Littéraire de Charleroi, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi;1959, Hassenhuis, Antwerp ;1960, The Arts of Belgium, Parke-Bernet Galleries ; 1962, XXXIe Biennale; 1963, Profile II – Belgische Kunst Heute, Städtische Kunstgalerie, Bochum;1963, Belgische Künstler von der Jahrhundertwende bis zur Gegenwart, Kunstgebäude am Schlossplatz Stuttgart, Stuttgart; 1965, Servranckx, Musée d’Ixelles, Ixelles;1970, Retrospectieve tentoonstelling Victor Servranckx 1897-1965, Provinciaal Begijnhof, Hasselt; 1989, Victor Servranckx 1897-1965 et l’art abstrait, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels; 2013, Modernisme, L’art abstrait belge et l’Europe, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent, 2013.