Christine Boumeester (1904-1971) was a Dutch-French abstract and

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

painter.

Biography

Boumeester was born in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

, then the capital of Dutch colonial Indonesia. Relocating to Europe as a young adult, Boumeester studied at

École des Beaux Arts École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région ...

at the Hague from 1922-1924. In 1935, she moved to Paris and enrolled at

Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the Acadé ...

. It was there that Boumeester met and soon married the painter

Henri Goetz Henri Bernard Goetz (September 29, 1909 – August 12, 1989) was a French American surrealist painter and engraving, engraver. He is known for his artwork, as well as for inventing the carborundum printmaking process. His work is represented in m ...

. Boumeester's first solo exhibition in France took place at the Galerie Bonaparte. Her work was often exhibited in group shows alongside artists like

Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, ...

Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...

, and Viera da Silva. Boumeester and Goetz relocated to Nice at the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, where they were both active in the

Resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

, helping create forged papers. The couple's close association with the artist community continued, including collaboration with

Raoul Ubac Raoul Ubac (31 August 1910, Cologne – 22 March 1985, Dieudonne, Oise) was a French painter, sculptor, photographer and engraver. He had various and irregular artistic training and travelled in Europe between 1928 and 1934. He worked mostly ...

and

Christian Dotremont Christian Dotremont, (; 12 December 1922 – 20 August 1979), was a Belgian painter and poet who was born in Tervuren, Belgium. He was a founding member of the Revolutionary Surrealist Group (1946) and he also founded COBRA together with Danis ...

. During the war Boumeester also began a close friendship with the painter

Francis Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism ...

; she would later restore his famous work ''Udnie''. Boumeester and Goetz returned to Paris in 1945. Boumeester was the subject of a short film by

Alain Resnais Alain Resnais (; 3 June 19221 March 2014) was a French film director and screenwriter whose career extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included ...

in 1946 that documented her creation of a painting. She was naturalized as French citizen in 1949 along with her husband. In 1962, Boumeester translated Kandinsky's book ''Point and Line to Plane'' into French. Boumeester died in 1971 in Paris. Her husband published her notebooks ''Le Cahier de Christine Boumeester'' in 1977. In 1983, the museum Musée Goetz-Boumeester opened in

Villefranche-sur-Mer Villefranche-sur-Mer (, ; oc, Vilafranca de Mar ; it, Villafranca Marittima ) is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera and is located south-west of the Principality of ...

, dedicated to Boumeester and her husband's work.

Literature

*Goetz, Henri. ''Christine Boumeester''. Introduction de Vercors.

aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...

Maeght, 1968. *Sireuil, Jean. ''Christine Boumeester''. Preface de Henri Goetz. Paris, Editions Cercle d'art, 1988.

External links

Selected works visible on ArtnetArtworks and history of exhibitions

References

{{ACArt French artists Modern artists French women artists