A painter of lyrical abstract paintings with the influence of cubism, Paul Cocagne was heavily influenced by Henri Matisse. It’s likely he became aware of the work of Matisse during a lengthy stay in Paris in the late 1920s.
Paul Cocagne was born in the Belgian city of Liege in 1907. He studied locally at the Academy before completing his education in Brussels. Following his sojourn in Paris he enjoyed a further extended stay in Munich where he would have seen the paintings of the German avant-garde artists before their works were banned by the Nazis. Returning to Belgium he settled in Brussels and in 1934 joined the art group ‘Atelier’ along with his contemporaries in the burgeoning avant-garde movement, Marcel Delfize and Ernest Stroobants. Also, at that time, he was associated and exhibiting with the painters Jean Rets, Gustave Paredis and Rene Hauben at the newly formed atelier, ‘Rythme et Couleurs’.
His paintings of the 1950s feature nudes and still-lifes painted in a geometric style such as this example dating to around 1955.
Paul Cocagne returned to Liege later in life where he would die in 1984. His paintings can be seen at the municipal collection of the town of Angleur and at the Boverie museum of fine arts in Liege.
