Corneille - Oiseau et Fleur 1989

Oiseau et Fleur 1989

• Artist: Corneille (Dutch, 1922–2010)
• Medium: Lithograph in colours
• Dimensions: 26 × 21 cm
• Edition: Épreuve d'artiste — 10/12
• Signature: Signed "Corneille 89" lower right in pencil
• Annotation: "Épreuve d'artiste 10/12" lower left in pencil
• Condition: Very good — framed with museum glass

This intimate colour lithograph from 1989 presents one of Corneille's most enduring and joyful motifs — a golden bird, open-beaked and alert, set against a vivid pink ground punctuated by deep blue and animated by a spray of red flowers. The composition is characteristic of the artist's mature vocabulary: flat colour fields, bold black outlines, a palette of almost tropical exuberance, and a visual energy rooted equally in Caribbean folk art, African textile tradition, and the gestural freedom of the CoBrA movement he co-founded in 1948 alongside Karel Appel and Asger Jorn.

Corneille — born Guillaume Cornelis van Beverloo in Liège in 1922 to Dutch parents, and known throughout his career by his single-name signature — spent decades travelling through Latin America, the Caribbean, and West Africa, absorbing the visual cultures he encountered and synthesising them with the expressionist freedom of his CoBrA formation into a body of work that is immediately, unmistakably his own. The bird — a recurrent protagonist across his prints, paintings, and drawings — is never merely decorative: it is a figure of freedom, of song, of the vital energy that Corneille found as the animating principle of every culture he visited.

This impression is an épreuve d'artiste — numbered 10/12, from a series of just 12 artist's proofs produced outside the main edition, and therefore among the most exclusive impressions from this work. Signed and dated in pencil lower right and annotated lower left, it is presented framed with museum glass — the ideal archival presentation for a work on paper of this intimacy and delicacy.

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FAQ

Is this an original Corneille lithograph?
Yes — an original colour lithograph, signed and dated by the artist in pencil, designated épreuve d'artiste 10/12.

What is an épreuve d'artiste?
An artist's proof — an impression produced outside the main numbered edition, traditionally reserved by the artist and produced in the smallest quantities. This example is 10/12, from a series of just 12 artist's proofs.

Who is Corneille?
Corneille (1922–2010) was a Dutch artist and co-founder of the CoBrA movement in 1948, alongside Karel Appel and Asger Jorn. Known for his vibrant, colour-saturated works drawing on Caribbean, African, and Latin American visual traditions, he is one of the most significant European artists of the postwar generation.

Is the work framed?
Yes — framed with museum glass in a silver frame, as shown.

What condition is the work in?
Very good condition.

Do you ship internationally?
Yes — worldwide, with museum-grade packaging for framed works on paper, full insurance, and shipment tracking.