René Mels (1909-1977) - Composition abstraite gestuelle - 1976

Artist: René Mels (1909 – 1977) Belgium

Technique: Ink and wash on paper
Signed and dated “Mels 76” at the bottom right
Work on paper, typical of his late graphic period

Date: 1976
Dimensions: 50.5 × 38 cm (with original mat)

Condition: Good overall. Small stains and imperfections on the original mat (not affecting the artwork itself).

Work sold unframed (mat included).

Description:
Vibrant gestural abstract composition from 1976, characteristic of René Mels’s late style. On a wash background of watercolors in expressive and luminous tones — bright yellow, deep blue, violet, intense red and ochre — the artist deploys a dense and powerful network of black ink lines, vigorous hatchings, nervous curves and swirling spirals.
A large rounded red motif dominates the left side, while the energetic lines and arabesques create a dynamic circular movement and strong graphic tension. The gesture is free, impulsive and controlled, offering a work full of vitality, rhythm and purely lyrical expressiveness. This piece beautifully illustrates the mastery of automatic drawing and René Mels’s abstract approach.

Biography:
René Mels, a pseudonym of René Meulemans (1909-1977), is a versatile Belgian artist: painter, draftsman, engraver, sculptor, ceramicist and stained-glass painter. Trained at the Louvain and Brussels Academies as well as La Cambre, he began in a figurative style before evolving, from the 1940s, toward a lyrical abstraction characterized by a powerful interplay of lines and contrasting colors. He was a member of the group Jeune Peinture Belge. His works are in numerous private and public collections in Belgium and abroad.