Large optical art mid century oil painting, reds, yellows and greys

Marcel Louis Baugniet (Belgian, 1896 – 1995) Sigale de Mer (Cicada of the sea) Oil on board with scraffito Signed ‘M L BAUGNIET / 47’ (upper right) 17.3/4 x 13.1/2 in. (45 x 34.3 cm.) Marcel-Louis Baugniet was born in Liege on the 18th March 1896. Painter, theorist, furniture designer, creator of posters, costumes and stage sets, he was one of the main defenders of the notion of Pure Plastic Arts. Baugniet studied painting at the Royal Academy of Beaux-Arts in Brussels where he mixed with Paul Delvaux, René Magritte, Victor Servrancks and Pierre-Louis Flouquet. He spent some time in Paris and decided that he would become an iconoclastic and avant garde artist. He discovered abstract art with Kandinsky, Kupka, Mondrian and Delaunay and with wonder and stupeur he also learnt of the constructivist movement, which was born in Russia with Malevitch and Lissitsky. In 1922, Baugniet then 26 years old returned to Brussels and married the Russian danser Akarova for whom he designed costumes and stage sets. M-L Baugniet painted, designed and engraved some superb series of dansers and sportspersons (the « Kaloprosopies »), works entrenched with impeccable lines of constructed art. He painted with contemplation geometric compositions which mixed a grace of colours with the rigour of shapes. Baugniet wrote articles on esthetics and applicated arts in the magasine 7 Arts and edited, with the Dutch architect Van Tonderen, the manifesto of the movement that they called « Le beau, C’est l'utile » (beauty is useful) Towards the end of the 20s, he separated from Akarova and in 1927 he opened his own Home Decor shop. With regret Baugniet laid down his paint brushes and threw himself into interior design and the creation of tubular furniture, everyday objects and carpets. He remarried the Russian Olga Reich. He created a circle of ideas that included artists, writers, politicians and intellectuals of all kinds. Throughout his career, Baugniet participated in numerous international exhibitions of decorative art. In 1977 abstraction, constructivism and Marcel-Louis Baugniet were rediscovered. Decorated and lauded, Baugniet began to paint once more and co-founded the magasine Mesures with Jo Delahaut...

Edi Swan (Scottish, 1935 – 2009) Harbour scene Oil on board, unframed Signed and dated ‘edi swan 1973’ (middle right) 24 x 48 in. (61 x 122 cm.)

A fabulous example of 1960s geometric/op art, displaying all the fun, playfulness and vibrancy of the style. Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses optical illusions. Typically, they give the viewer the impression of movement, hidden images and vibrating patterns. Its roots can be traced back to Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism and Dada. The maker of this stunning piece is Tony Gonnet (1909-2004) an artist close to those who shaped modern art and its history. Working in Casablanca in 1940 he met André Breton and Saint-Exupéry, who were both on their way to America. Unable to obtain a visa for himself, Gonnet returned to Paris in January of 1942. Living on Rue de Seine, he became one of the figures of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and numbered amongst his many friends Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Genet – who prefaced his first Parisian exhibition in 1952 – as well as Albert Camus, Simone Signoret, Boris Vian, Jacques and Pierre Prévert and many others. In 1941, in the ennui of Casablanca, Tony Gonnet had started to draw, and then paint, in a Surrealist style. In 1946 he abandoned figurative surrealism in favour of abstraction, making sole use from then on of geometric forms and shaded tones, in his own unique style. His works aim to achieve harmony of shapes and colours, and thus to bring joy. Tony Gonnet loved life, and said that each of his works was an offering made to it. With solo shows in major Paris galleries...

This hand painted piece by Lucchetta is part of the op art series where he is able to catch movement with his unique technique. Lucchetta is challenging himself. His precise stable h...