René Mels (1909-1977) - Composition abstraite lyrique au pastel

René Mels (1909-1977) – Gestural Abstract Composition – Pastel and mixed media on paper – Circa 1965 – Signed in full

• Artist: René Mels (René Meulemans, 1909-1977)
• Title: Gestural Abstract Composition
• Era: Circa 1965
• Technique: Pastel and mixed media on paper
• Dimensions: 53 × 45 cm (with original mat)

• Framing: Sold unframed, with original high-quality mat

• Condition: Very good overall condition of the work – a few small discreet stains and imperfections on the original mat (see detailed photos)

• Signature: Signed in full “R. Mels” bottom right

Description of the work

Here is a powerful and lyrical work by René Mels, a major figure in postwar Belgian abstraction.
Dating from around 1965, this abstract composition reveals the artist’s maturity in his fully gestural period. On a neutral gray paper background, Mels unfolds an energetic and sensitive handwriting: nervy lines, dynamic scratches, and vibrant color masses that clash. The deep blue, the bright white, the intense black, and touches of light blue create a chromatic dialogue of great intensity, typical of his lyrical abstract style.

The gesture is both controlled and free, structured by a balanced composition that recalls the artist’s interest in the golden ratio. One senses the influence of his mastery of printmaking in the work of the line and the material: scratchings, overlays, and relief effects give this pastel a rich and lively texture.

An exemplary work from Mels’s best period, perfect for lovers of Belgian abstraction of the 1960s.

Biography
René Mels, real name René Meulemans (Herent, 14 April 1909 – Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, 15 December 1977), is a Belgian artist in the broadest sense: painter, draftsman, aquafortist engraver, sculptor, ceramist, and master glazier.

Trained at the Leuven Academy (under Alfred Delaunois), then at the Brussels Academy (1930-1933) and La Cambre (1937-1938), he began with an expressionist figurative style before evolving toward abstraction from 1947. He joined the group Jeune Peinture Belge, stayed in Paris (Belgian state grant, 1950) and worked at Atelier 17 of Stanley William Hayter. In 1952, he joined the group Art Abstrait and co-founded in 1963 the printmaking group Cap d’Encre.

A master of printmaking (123 works donated to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium), he transposes this sensitivity of matter into his drawings and pastels. His abstract compositions from the 1960s, often structured around the golden ratio, are among his most accomplished works.

His works are in numerous public and private collections: Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Cabinet des Estampes of Brussels, Museum of Leuven, Gaspar Museum (Arlon), National Library of Paris, etc.