Georges Vantongerloo (24 November 1886,

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

– 5 October 1965,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

) was a Belgian abstract sculptor and painter and founding member of the De Stijl group.

Life

From 1905 to 1909 Vantongerloo studied

Fine Art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

at the Fine Art Academies in Antwerp and Brussels. Conscripted into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was wounded in a gas attack and discharged from the army in 1914. In 1916 he met Theo van Doesburg, and the following year he was a co-signator of the first manifesto of the De Stijl group. Vantongerloo moved to Paris in 1927 and began a correspondence with the Belgian Prime Minister, Henri Jaspar, in relation to the design of a bridge over the

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corr ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. In 1930 he joined the

Cercle et Carré Cercle et Carré (Circle and Square) was a group of abstract artists in Paris, founded 1929 by Joaquín Torres García and Michel Seuphor. The group published a journal with the same name. In 1930 they organised an exhibition in Paris showing 130 ...

group in Paris, and a year later he was a founding member of

Abstraction-Création Abstraction-Création was a loose association of artists formed in Paris in 1931 to counteract the influence of the Surrealist group led by André Breton. Founders Theo van Doesburg, Auguste Herbin, Jean Hélion and Georges Vantongerloo started th ...

. From 1955 Vantongerloo had a long friendship with the Swedish sculptor

Gert Marcus __NOTOC__ Gert Olof Marcus (1914-2008) was a Swedish painter and sculptor. He was born 10 November 1914 in the Groß Borstel district of Hamburg and died in Stockholm on 23 December 2008."Gert Marcus", 2021. Marcus’ father was a German law ...

Legacy

Once Vantongerloo died in 1965,

Max Bill Max Bill (22 December 1908 – 9 December 1994) was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer. Early life and education Bill was born in Winterthur. After an apprenticeship as a silversmith ...

, a close friend of his, began advocating for him. Bill's widow, the art historian Angela Thomas Schmid, set up the Max Bill Georges Vantongerloo Stiftung to support the legacy of both artists. On the art market, the estate has been represented by Hauser & Wirth since 2019.Alex Greenberger (January 16, 2019)
Hauser & Wirth Now Reps Foundation for Estates of Max Bill and Georges Vantongerloo
'' ARTnews''.

References

External links

* 1886 births 1965 deaths Abstract painters De Stijl Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) alumni 20th-century Belgian painters 20th-century Belgian sculptors Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts alumni {{Belgium-sculptor-stub