Felix Labis ( March 9, 1905 , Marchienne - January 27, 1982 , Neuilly-sur-Seine ) - French-Belgian painter , theater artist , illustrator . Surrealist . Member of the Academy of Fine Arts of France (posthumously since 1996).
| Felix Labis | |
|---|---|
| fr. Félix labisse | |
 Self portrait. 1941 | |
| Date of Birth | March 9, 1905 |
| Place of Birth | Marcienne , Haut de France , France |
| Date of death | January 27, 1982 (aged 76) |
| Place of death | Neuilly-sur-Seine , Haut-de-Seine , France |
| Citizenship |  |
| Genre | painter, theater artist, illustrator |
| Style | surrealism |
Content
Biography
The Labis family came from Douai , in the north of France, but after World War I moved to Ostend ( Belgium ), where they bought a fishing boat. Felix was called up for military service in Cambrai .
Self-taught. He was strongly influenced by the work of James Ensor . In 1927 he founded his studio in Ostend. Together with his friend Henri Stork, he founded the Gallery of Modern Art and Club du Cinéma de Ostende.
In 1932 he settled in Paris , where he became friends with prominent cultural figures Antonin Artaud , Jean-Louis Barrot and Robert Desnos . In 1935, he became close to a group of surrealists, including Paul Delvaux , Max Ernst , Andre Masson and Rene Magritte , as well as poets Jacques Prever and Raymond Keno .
At the beginning of World War II in 1939 he was mobilized, returned from the front to Paris in 1940 and became one of the leading young French artists.
Since 1943, he devoted himself entirely to painting and scenography . In 1947 he became a member of the Paris group of surrealists "Révolutionnaire". The activities of the group, which had existed for 18 months, were aimed at reconciling revolutionary Marxist-Leninist activity and creative freedom, including through surrealism . The condemnation of the activities of the Révolutionnaire group by the founder of surrealism, Andre Breton , marked the first serious split in surrealism after the Second World War.
Creativity
As an artist, he debuted in 1922. In 1935, he was the author of the scenery for the play "Around Mother" by Faulkner (Atelier Theater). Later he participated in productions of J. L. Barrot and in other performances of Parisian theaters.
In January 1938, exhibited at the Brussels Palace of Fine Arts.
Surrealist in easel painting, F. Labis in his theatrical works - “Farce of Gloom” Gelderode (theater “Grand Guignol”, 1952), the ballet “The Trap of Light” Damaz (troupe “Ballet Marquise de Cuevas”, 1952) and others, gravitating to fantastic, unusual images, avoided deliberate deformation of reality. The artist’s scenery is usually made flat, with sharply defined contours of objects and large surfaces painted with even local light.
He designed the performances: “Nights of Anger” by Salacre (1946), “The Process” by Kafka (1947), “Midday Section” by Claudel (1948), “Oresteia” by Aeschylus (1955) - in “Marigny Theater”, “Seducer” by Fabbri (1956) ) - in the theater "Mishodier" and others.
The author of a number of nude paintings, portraits , surreal landscapes and creatures, genre scenes, animals, surreal female images in a symbolic and fantastic-realistic style.
Labis's works are now kept in museums in Los Angeles , Rotterdam , Brussels, Ostend , Douai , Lille , Cannes .
Literature
- Theatrical Encyclopedia. Volume 3 / Chap. ed. P. A. Markov - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1964