Fernand Berckelaers (10 March 1901, in

Borgerhout Borgerhout () is the smallest districts of Antwerp, district of Antwerp, Belgium. , the district houses 45,769 inhabitants on 3,93 km². It was an independent municipality until January 1983. The postal area code for Borgerhout is 2140. Geography ...

– 12 February 1999, in

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. Si ...

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

Michel Seuphor (

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with J ...

), was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

painter. Seuphor established a literary magazine, ''

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 ...

'', in Antwerp in 1921. He moved in Dutch, Belgian, and French

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...

circles. He associated at various points with

Theo van Doesburg Theo van Doesburg (, 30 August 1883 – 7 March 1931) was a Dutch artist, who practiced painting, writing, poetry and architecture. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl. He was married to artist, pianist and choreographer Nell ...

and

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being o ...

, and was influenced by their iconic Neo-plasticist works. Along with Joaquin Torres-Garcia and Pierre Daura, Seuphor founded the abstract artists' group

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 13 ...

which included

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

and

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

. In 1934, Seuphor moved to

Anduze Anduze (; oc, Andusa) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.Anduze", Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. II, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1878, p. 24 . The village is at the foot of the Cevennes range, in the limesto ...

in the

South of France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', ...

following his marriage. Seuphor wrote and edited three books; ''A Dictionary of Abstract Painting'' (Tudor Publishing Co., 1958), ''Abstract Painting: 50 Years of Accomplishment'' (Dell Laurel Edition, 1964), and "The Sculpture of this Century" (George Braziller, Inc. NY, 1960). These volumes, now out of print, remain among the most valuable documents of abstract painting & sculpture in the 20th Century. The painting books have numerous color illustrations which document the various paths that abstract painting took, especially after World War II. The sculpture book has black & white photos that track both figurative as well as abstract sculpture from early 20th century through 1959. Also contains a short bio in the back of the book on each sculptor mentioned. Seuphor also assisted with the Tudor companion volume of his ''Dictionary of Abstract Painting'', the ''Dictionary of Modern Painting'', which documents all the various schools of painting in the 20th Century, including both abstract and realist painting. He had also an own contemporary art collection with works of

Marcelle Cahn Marcelle Cahn (March 1, 1895 - September 20, 1981) was a French painter and one of the members of Abstraction-Création. She was born in a Jewish family of Strasbourg, Alsace Adam Jankowski Adam Jankowski (born 1948 in Gdańsk, Poland) is an Austrian painter and professor at the Offenbach University of Art & Design. His studio is located in St. Pauli, Hamburg, Germany. The early work of Jankowski is closely related to the '68 mov ...

Jean Piaubert Jean Piaubert (27 January 1900 – 28 January 2002) was a French painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to t ...

Jean Gorin Albert Jean Gorin (2 December 1899 – 29 March 1981) was a French neoplastic painter and constructive sculptor. He was a disciple of Piet Mondrian, and remained true to the concept of rigid geometricism and use of primary colors, but pushed the ...

Jean Miotte Jean Miotte (1926-March 1, 2016) was a French abstract painter, in the style known as L'Art Informel. His work was preserved and studied by the Miotte Foundation and is in the collections of museums including: MoMA and the Guggenheim in New Yor ...

Aurélie Nemours Aurélie Nemours (29 October 1910 – 27 January 2005) was a French painter who made abstract geometrical paintings and was highly influenced by De Stijl, or neoplasticism. Biography Aurélie Nemours was born 29 October 1910 in Paris, Franc ...

and

Victor Vasarely Victor Vasarely (; born Győző Vásárhelyi, ; 9 April 1906 – 15 March 1997) was a Hungarian-French artist, who is widely accepted as a "grandfather" and leader of the Op art movement. His work entitled ''Zebra'', created in 1937, is consid ...

References

Sources

Michel Seuphor

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seuphor, Michel 20th-century Belgian painters 1901 births 1999 deaths Abstract painters Belgian magazine founders People from Borgerhout