Yves Rhayé, Monumental Sculpture In Glazed Ceramic, Fantastic Surrealism, Ca 1970

Important and remarkable anthropomorphic sculpture created by Yves Rhaye around 1970.
Glazed ceramic, terracotta type, suitable for outdoor use.
Abstract, biomorphic, and fantastical style. Perignem Amphora generation.

Dimensions (H × W × D): 144 × 73 × 50 cm.
Weight: 70 kg.
Condition: Excellent.

Biography: Yves Rhaye was a Belgian artist born in Ostend in 1936 and died in Ninove in 1995. Painter, draftsman, graphic designer, sculptor, sculptural ceramicist, and jewelry designer. He studied interior architecture, sculpture, and painting at the Ghent Academy under Robert Heylbroeck (1955–60). He began his career as a designer in various ceramic industries, including the Perignem workshop in Beernem (1962), where he learned the fundamental principles of ceramics under the tutelage of Laurent Vandeweghe, and in the Florizoon brickworks in Nieuport.

Member of the “Cyanuur” and “Fantasmagie” circles (1960). He set up his studio in Voorde Castle near Ninove. He created anthropomorphic and biomorphic sculptures (blurring plant and animal elements), humanoid figures transformed into extraterrestrial and fantastical creatures, which he executed in terracotta or bronze. He was elected a member of the International Academy of Ceramics.

Exhibitions: Numerous exhibitions in Belgium and abroad. First solo exhibition in Ghent in 1962; Veranneman Gallery in Brussels in 1972; Knokke-Heist in 1977; Brussels in 1978; Auxerre in 1989. Retrospective of 20 years, Ixelles Museum in 1980.

Works in collections: The Print Room in Brussels; the Museums of Ixelles, Ostend, Kortrijk, Ypres, Milan; Yugoslavia; South Africa; Germany; Veranneman Foundation; Baron Lambert collections; Crédit Communal; Générale de Banque; Morgan Guaranty Trust Company; Museum and Archive of Flemish Culture in Antwerp; Royal Library, Brussels; and State collections.

Bibliography:
– Engelen Marx, Sculpture in Belgium from 1830 to the present day.
– De Keyser 1972, p. 243; Fontier 1986, p. 118–119; Van Mulders 1977, p. 25–29, 46; Verbrugghen 1969.
– Piron.