Jozef Peeters (1895–1960) was a Belgian painter, engraver and graphic artist. In 1913, Jozef Peeters attended for a short time the

Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp ( nl, Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Antwerpen) is an art academy located in Antwerp, Belgium. It is one of the oldest of its kind in Europe. It was founded in 1663 by David Teniers the Younger, ...

, but was mainly interested by his own experiments. In 1914 he started painting luminist

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

s and

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

s. From 1915 to 1917 he turned to

symbolistic Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French art, French and Art of Belgium, Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction aga ...

works inspired by

theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

. In 1918 he meets

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti (; 22 December 1876 – 2 December 1944) was an Italian poet, editor, art theorist, and founder of the Futurist movement. He was associated with the utopian and Symbolist artistic and literary community Abbaye d ...

, who convinced him to join the futurist movement. With Edmond Van Dooren and Jan Cockx, Jozef Peeters established the "Modern Art" group in September 1918. The group was able to establish international contacts with the "

Der Sturm ''Der Sturm'' () was a German avant-garde art and literary magazine founded by Herwarth Walden, covering Expressionism, Cubism, Dada and Surrealism, among other artistic movements. It was published between 1910 and 1932. History and profile ' ...

" Gallery in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It also organized three art congresses with exhibitions. In 1920, Jozef Peeters presents his first abstract painting. He is considered to be, next to Karel Maes, one of the first Belgian abstract painters. The next year he published his first album with six

linocut Linocut, also known as lino print, lino printing or linoleum art, is a printmaking technique, a variant of woodcut in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for a relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum s ...

s. Jozef Peeters also participated in several international art exhibitions among which the International exhibition in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

(1921) and the First exhibition of modern art in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

(1924). En 1924, he worked on the

interior decoration Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordin ...

and designed the

furniture Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fu ...

for his new house. Jozef Peeters was also committed to art publications. In 1921, in cooperation with Geert Pijnenburg and

Michel Seuphor Fernand Berckelaers (10 March 1901, in Borgerhout – 12 February 1999, in Paris), pseudonym Michel Seuphor ( anagram of Orpheus), was a Belgian painter. Seuphor established a literary magazine, ''Het Overzicht'', in Antwerp in 1921. He moved in ...

, he publishes the ''

Het Overzicht ''Het Overzicht'' (Dutch: ''the Survey'') was a Dutch language literary magazine published in Antwerp, Belgium, between 1921 and 1925. Until its cessation in 1925 it was the major avant-garde magazine in the country and published a total of 24 i ...

'' (The Panorama) in Antwerp. In April 1925, Jozef Peeters creates the " De Driehoek" (The Triangle) magazine, supporting constructivist art. In 1930 he gives up painting and all other artistic activities.

References

''Dictionnaire des Peintres Belges''
*Flor Bex – ''Jozef Peeters (1895–1960)''. Antwerp, Esco Books, 1978. *Willy van den Bussche; Jean F. Buycks (eds). ''Retrospectieve Jozef Peeters 1895–1960. PMMK - Museum voor Moderne Kunst- Oostende.'' Oostende-Antwerpen. PMMK-Snoeck Ducaju & Zoon-Pandora. 1995. Belgian artists Belgian Symbolist painters Abstract artists 1895 births 1960 deaths Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) alumni 20th-century Belgian painters {{Belgium-painter-stub