Corneille (1922-2010)

Already in 1949 Corneille undertook his first journey to Africa, although as opposed to later trips to this continent, he did not go further than the northern areas. The impression of the African nature and culture will in the following years play a dominant part in his oeuvre, mainly visualised in a bird's-eye view. The often capricious forms of nature and culture are practically abstract of appearance. In the present lot, Habitations dans le désert, houses and tents fuse into large figures in a landscape. These figures relate directly to sculptures from Sudan, the tribes of the Dogon, the Bamana and the Bobo.
Contrary to for instance the work of Karel Appel in the same period, Corneille composes his canvas in a more careful way, more refined, attentively looking for an esthetic result, combining severity with spontaneity.