Dutch art master: Guillaume Corneille was born in 1922. His creative style is warm, lyrical and romantic. Appearing like a fabricated modern utopia, Corneille’s painting are full of women, birds and cats. This imaginary world assembles joy and leisure, while the animal’s anthropomorphic characters reveal a sense of humor. The artist imitates children’s doodles by drawing the outline first before filling in colors, and manages to keep a harmonious sense of natural balance even with bright and strong contrasting colors. February 2020 marks the tenth anniversary of Corneille’s death. Famed for Gauguin’s art in the French village Pont-Aven, the Museum of Pont-Aven held a special exhibition to commemorate Guillaume Corneille as one of the founders of the CoBrA Movement.

The CoBrA Movement was formally established in 1948 by artists from Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam, with the signing of a manifesto. The emphasis of the moment was on tracing back to the origins of civilization and expressing deep-rooted human inner spiritual power lost due to social edification. After WWII, the development of art flourished. Walasse Ting, an artist from Shanghai, China, arrived in Paris in 1952 and became good friends with Corneille. The two artists worked together on art creations, and expressed the idea of inclusiveness in the world of art to the fullest extent. In 1987, Corneille was invited to exhibit in Taiwan to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the CoBrA Movement. This lot, Un été floral, was completed in 1989 when Corneille was nearly seventy years old. With rich life experiences, Corneille was free to create as his heart desired, and finished the painting in one sweep of inspiration. After arriving in Taiwan, the painting has been kept carefully in a private collection, and has just become available for the first time in the auction market. To simplify the exterior shapes of objects and weaken artificial traces and influences of academism, Corneille relied on childlike techniques, using geometric shapes to outline objet. These lines infused with a calligraphic rhythm and characteristics of ancient totems recount Corneille’s awareness after traveling all around the world to experience the cultural essence of each destination.

The painting was titled in Chinese, Spread Wings, echoing the image at the center of the canvas where a pair of pink-color birds are depicted in clean lines and spirited shapes, and the high-flying birds seem to be dancing and chirping in a lively manner. The artist also wrote on the back of the painting in French Un été floral meaning “A Floral Summer”. Yet there are no figurative flowers on the canvas, only women, and flowers have long been used to symbolize women. The lower part of the canvas’ composition is occupied by unclothed voluptuous women in a prone position supported by crossed arms. Perhaps the artist’s words meant to suggest how the women were as alluring as the flowers. In terms of “movement vs. stillness”, if the birds symbolize movement, then the cool-colored double female bodies display stillness balance the composition. The theme of nude women has undergone a long history of western art development, sublimated into a symbol of “the ideal” from the glaring imagination of the artist/observer, to compensate for the psychological reality of the unsatiated. Un été floral transcends the scenery of the contemporary world, clearly directing viewers not to be bound by judgement of the common sense. Artistic creation is not reproduction of reality on canvas, but a journey to express inner desires. This type of perspective is particularly significant in the time and space of Corneille’s artistic development. Corneille longs to return to innocence through art by showcasing the coexistence of poetic scenery and object imagery, in hopes of opening another window full of optimism and peace for the existing universe.