Corneille is a pseudonym for Guillaume Van Beverloo. Together with Karel Appel, Constant, Theo Wolvecamp and Anton Rooskens, amongst others, he was a pioneer of the CoBrA movement (1948-51). CoBrA (Copenhagen, Brussels, Amsterdam) consisted of a loose-knit group of artists from Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. Pierre Alechinsky, Asger Jorn and Christian Dotremont were also members. Partly inspired by American Abstract Expressionism, the artists in the movement opposed the prevailing European trend of controlled, geometric abstraction and endeavoured to unite abstraction and figuration. The CoBrA artists strove for free, spontaneous expression, thereby seeking a return to the origins of creation. They took inspiration from drawings by children and the mentally ill, and were in thrall to the artist’s hand, which they saw as the ultimate tool in terms of spontaneity and individuality. Enthused by Karl Marx’s ideologies, and with their often wild, intuitive approaches, the CoBrA artists sought to create a universal form of art that could be made by everyone, irrespective of rank and status and exclusively based on the natural urge for self-expression.
Corneille was born in Liège to Dutch parents. He attended classes at the Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunst in Amsterdam during the Second World War, where he met Karel Appel. Corneille had a restless nature and soon became obsessed with painting. Shortly after the war, he paid several visits to Paris in the company of Appel. He saw works by Picasso, Paul Klee, Jean Dubuffet and Juan Miró in the French capital, all of which fuelled his imagination and desire to experiment freely. Back in Amsterdam, Corneille gravitated towards the artists who were championing the emotive power of the unfettered mind. For instance, he attended the founding meeting of the ‘Experimental Group Holland’, whose manifesto sketched the outlines of what would soon become CoBrA. At that time, Corneille painted brightly-coloured, childlike human figures using rough brushstrokes in the style of (late) Picasso, but also incorporating influences from Miró, Klee and Dubuffet.
Corneille moved to Paris in 1950 where his canvases gradually became less figurative. The artist also travelled extensively, mainly to North Africa. His style changed radically under a wealth of new influences. Corneille’s fascination with the austerity of the local architecture caused his work to become more abstract and cubist. From 1952 to 1957, influenced by the arid desert landscapes, his style became more organic and gestural. In around 1960, greater stricture crept into the artist’s work: abstract organic forms were methodically planned as autonomous elements within highly organised compositions. The most diverse travel influences – from nomadic art from the Sahara and impressions of metropolises, such as New York, to alluring abstract nature scenes – were blended together without any kind of hierarchy. He gradually turned towards figuration in the second half of the 1960s. The earlier, abstract and organic forms evolved into recognisable creatures. In the 1970s and 1980s, this slowly culminated in Corneille’s best-known works, which include female figures, flowers and birds, amongst other things, in a vast array of colours.
Although primarily known as a CoBrA artist, Corneille’s oeuvre is extremely eclectic. Throughout his long career, he never shied away from following his heart and introducing radical shifts in both style and imagery. He thus remained one of the most consistent champions of the CoBrA ideology, which advocated giving free rein to expression and the imagination, and this in the most unbridled and uncompromising way.
