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