Bram Van Velde, Composition, 1960, oil on canvas, 130 x192 cm.
"This light that we sometimes reach, we do not keep it in our pocket. You lose it immediately. It is necessary each time to launch out in search of it. Another autonomous work that follows the whims of its creator, that of Bram van Velde (1895-1981), Geer's brother who exhibited from 1947 at the Maeght Gallery. An interior work without concessions that obeys, if we have to look for its origins, to the post-cubist aesthetics between the two wars. One can also find its roots in Matisse or Munch. Colored masses haunt his paintings and nothing remains in front of the mystery of color.
Over the years, Bram van Velde deepens, purifies, and makes sound the adventure of color. His materials, all in clear repentances, throb. With him, everything is thought out, posed, without precipitation. Adrien, sensitive to this thoughtful work, finds in the artist a lover of lithography. The work lends itself wonderfully to the superimposition of inks, he works at Arte to illustrate the DLM or make a poster in lithography. He participates in the adventure of the Ephémère, illustrating large original editions, some with texts by Samuel Beckett, Bram's friend, whose writings echo his singular work. He died the same year as Aimé, after 33 years of collaboration and friendship.
"Everything Bram Van Velde painted All that he dressed with rains and corroded hearts The night recognizes him With its needles of hope And its ash wet with spittle." Fernando Arrabal , Behind the Mirror ,1975
Bram Van Velde, Samuel Beckett and Aimé Maeght
Geer Van Velde and his wife with Aimé Maeght, opening of the Tal Coat exhibition, Paris, 1972.
