Composition # 12
Linoleum cut, 1924, Museum Felix de Boeck retrospective (2007), page 205, edition unknown. 7 7/8 x 6 1/4 in. Signed and dated in the lower right with the printed signature, "KAREL MAES, 12/1924" and numbered in the lower left. This is a superb impression of this rare and exemplary work. The margins are full and the condition is very good. (There's light foxing in the upper left part of the sheet, slightly showing in the image.) Maes is one of the preeminent Belgian modernists and was closely associated with Jozef Peeters, Pierre-Louis Flouquet, Rene Magritte and Victor Servranckx, among others. This work is from his best period and his paintings of this era also focus on geometric abstraction. Most of his linoleum cuts were published in journals in the 1920s in black and white only. From 1922 onward, Maes began to design furniture, carpets, and posters.
SOLD

Cubist Portrait" (Herman Teirlinck)
Woodcut , 1921, small edition. 4 7/8 x 2 7/8 in. Signed on the support sheet with the artist's stamp. Copyright by Karel Maes" and also initialed in the block. A fine impression of this early Belgian cubist portrait. Attached to a large brown support sheet with green stencil color around the edge of the print itself. As issued, the print was most likely part of a portfolio of similar works. Rare. Herman Teirlinck (1869-1967) was a celebrated Flemish novelist and playwright.
SOLD

Tekening (Drawing)
Linocut, 1922 or slightly before, a proof impression before publication in Het Overzicht. 6 3/4 x 5 1/2 in. Initialed in the block, lower left. This is a fine impression with probably the full margins. Fine condition apart from a few tiny repairs at the top edge of the sheet. This is a superb example of Belgian avant garde printmaking. The provenance is quite interesting: There's a stamp on the verso which says "De Distel, Emiel Maeyens, Antwerpen." De Distel is is the name of a building in Antwerp where Emil Maeyens established a firm in artists supplies. He regularly advertised in in the modernist periodical "Het Overzicht" in which Karel Maes and Josef Peeters published their prints. We suspect he also sold copies of the periodical and he could well have collected and/or sold proofs when they could be located. Maes is one of the preeminent Belgian modernists and was closely associated with Jozef Peeters, Pierre-Louis Flouquet, Rene Magritte and Victor Servranckx, among others. This work is from his best period and his paintings of this era also focus on geometric abstraction. Most of his linoleum cuts were published in journals in the 1920s in black and white only. From 1922 onward, Maes began to design furniture, carpets, and posters.
SOLD

Violoniste
Woodcut, 1919, small edition. 6 3/4 x 3 1/2 in. Signed on the support sheet with the artist's stamp "Copyright by Karel Maes", and also initialed and dated in the block. A fine impression of this early Belgian cubist image. Attached to a large brown support sheet with red stencil color around the edge of the print itself. This is as issued and the print was most likely part of a portfolio of related works. Prints by this artist are rare today as he destroyed a large part of his own work before departing for the Congo.
SOLD