de Taeye Camille

Camille De Taeye was a Belgian artist, born in Uccle in 1938 and died in Brussels in 2013. He was a painter, draughtsman, and lithographer. He studied in the workshop of G. Bertrand at Sint-Lukas in Brussels (1959-1962) and simultaneously took drawing lessons at the Free Studio in Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe. From the press: “Through his realistic technique, in which contrasting creatures and objects are linked, and through his precisely rendered colours that suddenly shift, he positions himself on the boundary of various movements: the lyrical aspect of surrealism inherited from Magritte, the symbolism in which form expresses thought, the fantastic painting style in the vein of Ensor (De Taeye often painted skeletons). Blake, Redon, and Khnopff appear in turn in his creations.” And: “With his early works, he introduced the principles of collage, or in the words of Lévi-Strauss, bricolage, in drawing and on canvas. Gradually, he drew from those disparate elements his own fairytale-like, mysterious mythology, in which flashes of earlier literary and pictorial structures are absorbed.” He also worked as an illustrator of literary works and designed costumes and stage sets for productions by Henri Ronse at the Nouveau Théâtre de Belgique. He taught drawing and painting at Sint-Lukas and at Ter Kameren in Brussels. His work can be found in the museums of Brussels, Ixelles, Mons and Tournai. He is listed in BAS II and Twee eeuwen signaturen van Belgische kunstenaars. (Piron)