Corneille (1922-2010) - L’oiseau sur la tête

Head of a Woman is a lithograph from 1998 by Corneille (1922–2010). The composition shows a monumental profile of a woman, built up from bold black contours and nuanced greys. The face is sober and tightly rendered, while the richly worked headdress forms a strong contrast with the calm background. Feathers, organic shapes, and a striking bird head together form a decorative, almost sculptural crown. The bird and the woman belong to the recurring figurative motifs in Corneille's later oeuvre. Lower left in pencil marked E/A 9/20, signed Corneille and dated ’98. Dimensions of the work: 74 × 57 cm; including matting and frame: 98 × 79 cm.

Artist biography
Corneille, the artist’s name of Guillaume Cornelis van Beverloo (Liège, 1922 – Auvers-sur-Oise, 2010), was among the founders of the international CoBrA movement in 1948. He studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, where he befriended Karel Appel. Corneille was also involved with the Dutch Experimental Group and played an active role in the major CoBrA exhibition of 1949 at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Travels, including to North Africa, had a lasting influence on his visual language. From the late 1960s his work again took on a pronounced figurative character. Especially women, birds, and celestial bodies became recurring motifs within his paintings and prints. His work is part of the collection of Museum Cobra, which in 2022 on the occasion of his hundredth birthday dedicated a special collection presentation to his oeuvre.