Édouard Léon Théodore Mesens (27 November 1903 – 13 May 1971) was a Belgian artist and writer associated with the Belgian

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 ...

movement.

Biography

Mesens was born in Brussels, Belgium. He started his artistic career as a musician influenced by Erik Satie and an author of

dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...

ist poems. He was a publisher of the books ''Œesophage'' and ''Marie''with his lifetime friend and soulmate

René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature and bound ...

. His activity as one of the leaders of the

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 ...

movement in Belgium was eased by him being an owner of a gallery, where he organised the first surrealist exhibition in Belgium in 1934. He also went to co-organise the

London International Surrealist Exhibition The International Surrealist Exhibition was held from 11 June to 4 July 1936 at the New Burlington Galleries, near Savile Row in London's Mayfair, England. Organisers The exhibition was organised by committees from England, France, Belgium, Sca ...

, which made him settle in London. There he became the director of the London Gallery (which he ran during the late 1930s and after the war with

Roland Penrose Sir Roland Algernon Penrose (14 October 1900 – 23 April 1984) was an English artist, historian and poet. He was a major promoter and collector of modern art and an associate of the surrealists in the United Kingdom. During the Second World ...

) and the chief editor of the ''

London Bulletin ''London Bulletin'' was a monthly avant-garde art magazine which was affiliated with the London Gallery between April 1938 and June 1940. It was one of the most significant surrealist publication. History and profile The plans to launch the maga ...

'' (1938–1940), which was one of the most important bulletins among the English-language Surrealist periodicals. Mesens died in 1971 following a "long, lingering, painful illness".Franklin Rosemont, "E.L.T. Mesens", in ''Radical America'', vol. 6, no. 1 (Jan.–Feb. 1972), pp. 103–107. According to an obituary published by poet and historian

Franklin Rosemont Franklin Rosemont (1943–2009) was an American poet, artist, historian, street speaker, and co-founder of the Chicago Surrealist Group. Over four decades, Franklin produced a body of work, of declarations, manifestos, poetry, collage, hidden hi ...

, Mesens committed "suicide by absinthe", drinking himself to death by wilfully disregarding doctors' orders to abstain from alcohol.

Works

* ''Alphabet sourd aveugle'' - Flamel, Brussels - with preface and a note by

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

(1933) * ''Troisième Front'' - London Gallery Editions (1944) * ''Free Unions - Unions Libres'' - Directed by Simon Watson Taylor (1946) * ''The Cubist Spirit in Its Time'' - London Gallery Editions - with Robert Melville (1947) * ''Poèmes, 1923–1958'' - Le Terrain Vague (1959)

References

External links

Tate Collection
- Four works by ELT Mesens
Inventory of the E. L. T. Mesens papers
- at the Getty Research Institute {{DEFAULTSORT:Mesens, E L T 1903 births 1971 deaths Belgian artists Belgian surrealist writers Belgian writers in French 1971 suicides Belgian expatriates in the United Kingdom Belgian art dealers British art dealers

Biography

Works

References

Further reading

External links