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Jan COX (1919-1980) Achilles strooit as over zijn hoofd in r…
See original version (French)
129
-
Jan COX (1919-1980) Achilles strooit as over zijn hoofd in r…
See original version (French)
Estimate €15,000 - €20,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Jan COX (1919-1980)
Achilles strooit as over zijn hoofd in rouw voor zijn vriend Patroklos, Antwerpen 1975
(Achilles covers his head with ashes as a sign of mourning for his friend Patroclus)
Oil on canvas
Signed, dated, titled and located on the back of the stretcher
130 x 180 cm
Exhibition: Brussels, "Jan Cox: Homer's Iliad", Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique (MRBAB), 26 March to 23 May 1976 (cat. no. 21 p.26)
Co-founder of the "Jeune Peinture Belge" group in 1945, Jan Cox formed a long friendship with Pierre Alechinsky and became close to the CoBrA group five years later. His palette was strongly influenced by this, as was the spontaneity of his brushstrokes. After spending almost 20 years in the United States, he returned to Belgium in 1974 and the following year produced a series of paintings entitled L'Illiade d'Homère. Our painting is one of 44 that were exhibited in 1976 at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. Among these remarkable works is also The Fight for the Body of Patroclus, preserved in the collections of the MRBAB (inv. 8928).
Jan Cox's work is characterised by the striking contrast between the formal modernity of his works and the classicism of his subjects. For him, ancient literature, echoing modern artists of past centuries, is a pretext for a profound reflection on war, violence and the atrocities of contemporary civilisation, as well as on death (the trauma of the Second World War is still present). With his classic subjects from ancient times and the contemporary societal and philosophical questions he raises, Jan Cox builds bridges. The art to which he aspires is beautiful in its pictorial language, but above all it is challenging and striking. Our painting can also be compared with The Fall of Troyes, which can be seen in the Herrmann-Debroux metro station in Brussels.
See original version (French)
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Pictures credits:
AZ Auction
See original version (French)
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