Floris Jespers - without title

Watercolor on paper on board. Signed.
Floris Jespers (Borgerhout (Antwerp), March 18, 1889 – Antwerp, April 16, 1965) was a Belgian visual artist (painter, graphic artist, sculptor). During the interwar period, Floris Jespers is considered one of the tenors of modernist painting in Belgium. During and shortly after the First World War, together with his brother, the sculptor Oscar Jespers and the Dadaist Paul Joostens, he belonged to the circle around the poet-critic Paul Van Ostaijen, who explored the influence of European fauvism, expressionism, cubism and futurism. undergoes. In the 1920s he joined the groups Sélection and Centaure, operating in Brussels. Critics at home and abroad mention him in the same breath as Permeke, De Smet and Van den Berghe as leading 'Flemish expressionists'. His 'post-expressionist' work is extremely varied due to his mastery of different media. In addition to the oil paintings, numerous drawings, etchings and paintings (behind glass) were created in which rural themes alternate with circus scenes. In his satirically inspired urban themes, he often stylizes with a formalism that leans towards Art Deco. The 'frightened thirties' brought a change: Jespers made a switch to tradition-bound painting. Series of 'Flemish and Walloon landscapes', still lifes and portraits represent a return to 'specialist' painting, while he also contributes to the revival of monumental art through his carpet designs for the world exhibitions in Paris and New York. Shortly after the Second World War, Jespers reconnected with international modernism, only to revive himself in the 1950s with 'Congolese beauty', a new highlight.