Lithograph #2 by Guillaume Cornelis Van Beverloo (Corneille)

Description

This lithograph was done by Dutch artist Corneille, (1922-2016), who created lyrical, expressionist paintings bursting with color and was one … more This lithograph was done by Dutch artist Corneille, (1922-2016), who created lyrical, expressionist paintings bursting with color and was one of the founders of the postwar European art movement, Cobra. He was not only a master painter but also a printmaker, ceramicist, and writer.

This lithograph, dated 2000 and signed by the CobrA artist Corneille on the left bottom. This very colorful artwork hails from the renowned Galerie Tom Okker Art in the heart of Amsterdam, complete with the framer's label to its verso, and a handwritten reference to the gallery.

Within this numbered lithograph, 169 out of 200, we encounter three subjects: two birds and a woman. They grace a flat plane, as is customary in Corneille's oeuvre, where the artist dismisses the constraints of perspective. Each entity, every detail, assumes an intrinsic importance. There exists no hierarchy, no figure clamoring for dominance; rather, the scene unfolds in its entirety, proffering a unique narrative contingent upon the observer's perspective. The avian form has perennially served as a symbol of the profound connection between the human and the divine, or perhaps, the spiritual essence within. The bird is imbued with the significance of souls, embodying delicacy and fragility while bridging the celestial and terrestrial realms.
Corneille has rendered a bluebird in profile, its light flight evoking a liberated soul detached from the illusions and worries of this world. Its eye is wide open, its lashes shaped as rays of sunlight. The bird in the lower left, in yellow, confronts us, reminiscent of those butterflies pinned cork boards with its wings stretched, and its wide round eyes, perplexed. One could almost believe that he had just been surprised by the flash of a camera like a mugshot that makes its expression funny. In the center stands the third subject, a woman with black hair. Its almond-shaped eyes are accentuated by a thick black outline. She gazes towards the sky, in a moment of contemplation, or maybe she is dreaming. Despite being drawn naked, there's no eroticism, but rather a desire to present her in a new light, a fresh start like a newborn entering the journey of his life.
This scene reflects our dual nature as beings with the eternal struggles between materialistic pursuits driven by our primal instincts and the deeper aspiration for spiritual growth and enlightenment. Birds function as symbols, conveying something beyond their physicality. And this is what Corneille captured in his work. They are intermediaries, enhancing human perception of the world by offering glimpses of the imperceptible. By uniting, they weave a poetic intelligence of the cosmos.
The lithograph sits in a thick silvered frame.

Corneille began his artistic life in 1940, studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam. Though he made his home based in Paris in the early 1950s, he traveled extensively in Africa, Cuba, Brazil, and Mexico. In Africa, he became fascinated by the colors, smells, and cultures. These primitive artifacts became evident in his works, which began to take on a more imaginative style, like landscapes seen from a bird's eye view, exotic birds, and stylized forms. His work is exhibited in all major museums of modern art worldwide. less