Singier, Gustave

Gustave Singier was an important Belgian painter of the abstract "École de Paris". He began painting at the age of 14. The move of his family to Paris brought him to the Ecole Boulle. The naturalistic, painterly rendering he learned there led him to work as a draftsman for various advertising agencies before he began exhibiting and selling his work in Paris galleries in 1936. Many more exhibitions followed throughout the country. He made acquaintances with important artists and curators. In 1951 Singier was appointed as a lecturer at the Académie Ranson and his works were shown throughout Europe. He participated in documenta I and II in Kassel and exhibited at the Kestner-Gesellschaft in Hanover in 1957. Singier was the founder of the art establishment "Salon de la jeune peinture indépendante", which was intended to serve the exchange of young artists.

Monochrome surfaces that vary in size and shape make up the energy of his paintings. Singier's artistic world is poetic and very intimate. His canvases are usually bathed in warm hues and reveal compositional rhythms. He usually used all the primary colors and in this way created the highest color contrasts and lively compositions that oscillate in many shades of light and dark. Singier's oeuvre refers to a sensitive reality between him and his painting. It is unique and clearly different from non-figurative surrealism. His works also differ from abstraction, where every representation refers to an immediate reality. It even differs from lyrical abstraction, which directly expresses individual emotions, and also stands out from gestural painting, which focuses on impulses during the act of painting.

Singier's creations are individual and cannot be firmly assigned to any genre. His estate includes impressive drawings, paintings and prints, which include numerous etchings and lithographs.