Leuven • Delen.ART

About the exhibition in Leuven

This exhibition is a collaboration with the Maurice Verbaet Centre, a centre of excellence for Belgian post-war modern art. With thousands of top works by various Belgian artists, this rare collection is the largest of its kind, which is obviously highly representative of a fascinating piece of Belgian art history. Well-known and often lesser-known artists who are more than worth rediscovering are promoted with passion.

We present Pierre Célice, born in 1932. As son of a lawyer, he first studied law, but focussed very soon on drawing and painting. His early work was figurative and influenced by Henri Hayden, whom he described as his teacher.

Pierre Célice encountered his first successes between 1950 and 1960 with his exhibitions, including at Simone Badinier's gallery. Very rapidly, his figurative art developed into something more synthetic, and colour would gradually assume an increasingly essential place. He created new compositions of lines and colours. On his way to abstraction, but not quite there yet....

In the early 1970s, Pierre Célice worked in the studio of lithographer Peter Bramsen, where international Cobra artists also converged. There, he discovered the work of Bram Van Velde, Pierre Alechinsky, Asger Jorn, Karel Appel, and others. At this time, his figurative work came to an end.