Corneille
Belgian, 1922-2010
The Dutch artist Corneille created lyrical, expressionist paintings bursting with color and was one of the founders of the postwar European art movement known as Cobra.
Corneille was best known for radicalizing the conservative Dutch art world in the early 1950s, making modern art not only acceptable, but embraceable as well. He placed familiar subjects — birds, cats, women and landscapes — in mythological and often childlike contexts, imbuing them with spontaneity and bright, sensual reds.
"I am a painter of joy," Corneille remarked at a 2007 exhibition of his work at the Cobra Museum, said Katja Weitering, the artistic director of the museum, in Amstelveen, near Amsterdam.
"He was really an artist for all people," she said. "He was open to the audience; he appeared in documentaries, on television, and frequently visited exhibitions. It's safe to say we consider him one of the most important modern artists of the postwar." In the Netherlands, she added, his fame and influence derived from the appeal of Cobra.
Born Guillaume Cornelis van Beverloo to Dutch parents on July 3, 1922, in Liège, Belgium, Corneille was influenced by Miró, Picasso and Paul Klee but claimed the most profound connection to van Gogh because of their shared passion for color, form and nature.
Corneille founded Cobra in 1948 with five other artists, including his close friends Karel Appel and Constant Nieuwenhuys. The name was an acronym made up of the artists' home cities — Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam. The artists drew inspiration from surrealism, but believed that style promoted too much discussion and not enough action.
Instead, Corneille and his friends formed a united front in postwar Europe, urging a break from tradition and toward freedom and vitality. In an intense three years, Cobra produced two major international exhibitions and published 10 issues of a magazine for which Corneille wrote poetry. Cobra disbanded in 1951, saying it had achieved its goals, and the artists returned to their individual careers.
Corneille began his artistic life in 1940, studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam. Though he made his home base 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, Ms. Weitering said, collecting brightly painted objects like the masks he later used as themes. He also spent time in Italy, Israel and San Francisco, expanding his repertory to include etching, ceramics and printmaking.
Beyond the Netherlands, Corneille's work is in the collections of several American museums, including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.(Biography provided by Lincoln Glenn)
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Cat
By Corneille
Located in Provincetown, MA
Color, narrative, and rhythm are the hallmarks of Dutch artist Joseph Corneille’s work. Corneille disrupted the staid world of Dutch art in the twentieth-century as a founder of the ...
Category
20th Century Corneille
Materials
Metal
Fiac '86
By Corneille
Located in Barcelona, ES
the painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Category
1980s Corneille
Materials
Lithograph
Femme à la lune
By Corneille
Located in Malmo, SE
Published by edition GKM.
Unframed.
Edition: 200 ex
Paper: 300gr. Goya.
Signed by the artist.
Free shipment worldwide.
Corneille, one of the founders of the COBRA group, has passe...
Category
1990s Contemporary Corneille
Materials
Screen
Confiance à l’oiseau.
By Corneille
Located in Malmo, SE
Publisher GKM.
Unframed.
Edition of 150 ex
Paper: 300gr. Goya.
Signed, dated and numbered.
Corneille, one of the founders of the COBRA group, has passed away. He died in Paris on Su...
Category
1980s Contemporary Corneille
Materials
Screen
Été souverain
By Corneille
Located in Malmo, SE
Publisher GKM.
Unframed.
Edition of 150 ex.
Paper: 300gr. Goya.
Signed, dated and numbered.
Free shipment worldwide.
Corneille, one of the founders of the COBRA group, has passed aw...
Category
1980s Contemporary Corneille
Materials
Screen
Femme a la fleur
By Corneille
Located in Malmo, SE
Published by edition GKM.
Unframed.
Edition: 200 ex
Paper: 300gr. Goya.
Signed by the artist.
Free shipment worldwide.
Corneille, one of the founders of the COBRA group, has passed away. He passed away in Paris on Sunday, 5 September 2010 aged 88 years.
Guillaume Cornelis van Beverloo was born in 1922 in Liège, Belgium, to Dutch parents. After leaving school, he studied drawing at the Academy of Arts in Amsterdam from 1940 to 1943. As a painter, however, he was an autodidact.
His first exhibition was in 1946 in Groningen in the Netherlands, together with artists from the Dutch experimental group, Reflex.
Corneille first visited Paris in 1946 and felt immediately at home in the art metropolis. Together with Karel Appel, Asger Jorn, Dotremont and Constant, he founded the COBRA group in Paris 1948. Many other artists, poets and architects later joined the group, including the Swedish artists C-O Hultén, Max Walter Svanberg and Anders Österlin...
Category
1990s Contemporary Corneille
Materials
Lithograph
PORTRAIT IMAGINAIRE Signed Lithograph Fantasy Portrait Woman's Face Exotic Birds
By Corneille
Located in Union City, NJ
PORTRAIT IMAGINAIRE is an original hand drawn limited edition lithograph printed using hand lithography techniques on archival paper 100% acid free by the Dutch artist known as CORNE...
Category
1980s Contemporary Corneille
Materials
Lithograph
L’Argentina, reine du tango
By Corneille
Located in Malmo, SE
L’Argentina, reine du tango.
Paper size: 103×103 cm.
Image size: 88 cm Ø.
Handmade paper, carborundum engraving
Unframed.
Edition of 130 ex.
Signed, dated and numbered.
Free shipment...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Corneille
Materials
Engraving, Handmade Paper
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Corneille art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Corneille art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue, orange, purple and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Corneille in lithograph, screen print, engraving and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Corneille art, so small editions measuring 11 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Martine Goeyens, Enrico Baj, and Nicola Simbari. Corneille art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $324 and tops out at $48,543, while the average work can sell for $1,421.