Oil By Marcel Delmotte - Ophelia

Marcel DELMOTTE (Charleroi 1901-1984 Mont-sur-Marchienne) Ophélie1983oil on isorel21 x 30.5 cmsigned lower right; inscriptions on the back: 'Lille 131/ Marcel Delmotte / 10, route de Bomerée / Mont-sur-Marchienne/ Ophélie/ 1983' Contemporary artist, originally from Charleroi, Marcel Delmotte is known in Belgium as in France for his works with surrealist and symbolist accents. Painter, sculptor, watercolorist, he approaches all genres but excels in imaginary landscapes and large symbolic frescoes. He studied drawing from life at the free studio of the University of Work in Charleroi, under the guidance of the painter Léon Van den Houten. Initially a realist painter, the artist's mission is to question us on the evolution of humanity and its uncertain destiny. Dante's Divine Comedy, mythology and the Bible are his main sources of inspiration. The influence of symbolist artists such as Gustave Moreau is easily perceptible, not only in the themes addressed, but also in the use of a loose and degraded material. In the 1920s, the artist created large compositions representing dream landscapes. Their futuristic architecture and the treatment of the material with a knife, often rubbed and scraped, easily recall the work of Max Ernst during the height of surrealism. Creating striking material effects, he immerses us in a mysterious and enigmatic universe, where the lush vegetation hosts large episodes with multiple themes. Here, Marcel Delmotte chooses to represent a well-known episode in the history of art, that of Ophelia. A major figure in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, Ophelia is a character whose terrible fate has inspired many artists. Abandoned by her lover, the heroine descends into madness and kills herself by drowning herself in a stream (Act IV, Scene 7). From the second half of the 19th century, she was represented by Pre-Raphaelite painters such as John Everett Millais (1852). This striking image of the fragile and bruised woman, whose beauty is about to be frozen forever in death, has aroused passions since the Romantic era. Marcel Delmotte received numerous awards and distinctions throughout his career. He was named a Knight of the Order of Leopold II in 1939. He received the Silver Medal for Belgian Painting in 1960, then the First Chapman Prize in 1965. His works have been exhibited in numerous galleries in Charleroi and Brussels. In 1952, he participated in the Salon de l'Art Libre in Paris. In 1964, the Casino de Spa organized a retrospective of his work. More recently, his works have been presented internationally, notably in New York and Yokohama (Nathan Gallery, 1991).