SCHELCK, Maurice
Facts about this piece
BELGIAN 1906-1978
STILLEVEN MET VRUCHTEN EN BLOEMEN
OIL ON PANEL, SIGNED
24" X 28"
Excellent
Author Bio
Maurice Schelck was an intriguing artist whose career spanned some of the most artistically important decades of the twentieth century. His style ranged from Realism through Impressionism and culminating in Abstract Expressionism all handled with the same degree of finesse.
Maurice Schelck was born in the small town of Alost in 1906 where he would study at the academy under Alfons Ysabey. Graduating in 1923 he continued his studies with Herman Richir in Brussels before traveling to Paris where he took art lessons at a number of the free ateliers. At first he painted traditional figurative work similar to his teacher Richir and achieved some considerable success culminating in 1925 with him winning the Prix Jeune Peinture Belge. In 1926 he helped found the artistic society known as Nieuw Leven which would hold regular exhibitions throughout the following ten years. In 1933 he embarked on a two year trip to Germany and Italy but when he returned to Belgium he made the decision to give up painting professionally and concentrate on a career as an art teacher and historian. It would be twenty years before he would once again commence painting and it is these later works which are now considered the most important of his oeuvre. By now he was painting in an Expressionist style, mostly the expansive landscapes of the Belgian Flanders using a strong and vibrant color palette and free rapid brush strokes. In 1962 Schelck settled in the town of Sint Maartens Laethem and became a member of the third generation of painters of the School of Laethem. A major retrospective on his life and works was held in his birth town of Alost in 1966. Works by Maurice Schelck are housed in a number of museums including those in Belgium at Alost, Antwerp, Deurle and Ostend and also in Milan and Montevideo.
This outstanding example of his nature-morte painting dates from around 1955 and is one of the earliest works painted after his twenty year hiatus.
Lit; Arto
P. Piron