René GUIETTE
René Guiette (1893–1976) stands as a key figure in Belgian modernism, bridging the worlds of expressionism, cubism, and spiritual abstraction. His lifelong search for the dialogue between matter and mysticism led to a body of work that unites emotion, structure, and inner contemplation. From the post-impressionist beginnings of the 1920s to the meditative canvases of his late years, Guiette’s art reflects a deeply personal quest for harmony between form and spirit.
In 1925 Guiette commissionned french architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965) to design his residence-atelier in Antwerp.
Completed in 1927 and renovated in the 1980's, the house is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Completed in 1927 and renovated in the 1980's, the house is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
"Birds at the water's edge - oiseaux au bord de l'eau" 1950, oil on panel, 97 x 130 cm
Exhibited at Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels in 1966 "Retrospective René Guiette"
Exhibited at Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels in 1966 "Retrospective René Guiette"
"Sewing machine - Machine à coudre" 1944, oil on canvas, 45 x 74 cm
Available, call 02 539.23.09 or mail [email protected]
Available, call 02 539.23.09 or mail [email protected]
"Still life" 1944, gouache, 45 x 56 cm
Available
Available
Vintage postcard of "La Rascasse" at the old port of St-Tropez
"La Rascasse in St-Tropez" 1949, oil on canvas, 73 x 92 cm
A major and widely exhibited painting : Museum of The Hague 1949, Amsterdam City Museum 1952,
Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels 1958 ("Depuis Ensor"), Goya Museum Castres 1962 ("Contemporary belgian painters"),
Utrecht Museum 1966, Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels 1966 ("Guiette Retrospective" - cover illustration), Haus der Kunst Munich 1959, New York etc..
Litterature : "Monographies de l'art belge", by Robert Guiette, Antwerp 1950 - colour illustration.
SOLD
A major and widely exhibited painting : Museum of The Hague 1949, Amsterdam City Museum 1952,
Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels 1958 ("Depuis Ensor"), Goya Museum Castres 1962 ("Contemporary belgian painters"),
Utrecht Museum 1966, Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels 1966 ("Guiette Retrospective" - cover illustration), Haus der Kunst Munich 1959, New York etc..
Litterature : "Monographies de l'art belge", by Robert Guiette, Antwerp 1950 - colour illustration.
SOLD
"Untitled" 1939, gouache, 60 x 45 cm
SOLD
SOLD
"Untitled (Rare Self portrait)" 1948, gouache, 63 x 48 cm
Available
Available
"Self portrait" 1949, gouache, 48 x 38 cm
Available
Available
"Untitled (Ships)" 1949, gouache, 39 x 49,5 cm
SOLD
SOLD
"Night butterfly - Papillon de nuit" 1950, oil on canvas, 81 x 65 cm
Available
Available
"Bird's dance - danse des oiseaux" 1951, gouache, 49 x 39 cm
Available
Available
"Untitled (birds)" 1951, gouache, 49 x 39 cm
Available
Available
René Guiette was born in Antwerp in 1893. His father Jules was a luminist painter. Guiette started painting in 1919 and his first exhibition took place in Antwerp in 1921 (Janus Gallery). When visiting the international exhibition of decorative arts in Paris in 1925, Guiette was impressed by the work of Le Corbusier in the "L'Esprit Nouveau Pavillion" and asked him to design a residence-atelier in Antwerp similar to that of artist Amédée Ozenfant. In 1928 he met the banker and major collector Emanuel Hoffmann who acquired a painting which is now in the Basel Kunstmuseum. In 1931 Guiette exhibited with Magritte at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. He participated in group exhibitions in London and New York. His first solo exhibition in Paris was held at Galerie Rive Gauche in 1947. In 1948 he exhibited at the Venice Biennial together with Ensor, Delvaux, Magritte and G. Desmet. The same year, during which he visited St-Tropez, he met french artist Jean Dubuffet and became a member of "La Compagnie de l'art brut". In the 1950's and 1960's Guiette was present at an impressive number of group exhibitions at the Basel Kunsthalle, the Amsterdam City museum, the "Salon de Mai" in Paris, the Tokyo and Venice Biennials, the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, Osaka, the Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York (with a.o. Fautrier and Hartung in 1959) etc..
Evolution of Guiette's work
Early works (1919-1936)
Post-impressionist, animist and expressionist period.
Post-Cubist period (1930-1946)
Under the influence of Picasso, Guiette conceived a post-cubist language, paying much attention to architecture in his compositions.
Materialist period (1946-1960)
The material itself became the primordial element in his work.
Abstract period (1960-1976)
Since his youth Guiette was fascinated by mysticism and esotericism.
Under the influence of Zen philosophy, Guiette created very sober compositions featuring meditative signs & arabesques.
Guiette passed away in Antwerp in 1976.
Early Years and the Formation of a Belgian Modernist
René Guiette (Antwerp 1893–1976) was born into an artistic family. His father, Jules Guiette, was a luminist painter; his brother Robert, a poet and philologist, later joined the Royal Academy. After a brief military training, René served as a sergeant in the Belgian army during the First World War. The war experience, combined with his early fascination for mysticism and Eastern philosophy, would leave a lasting mark on his artistic vision.
After the war, Guiette began painting as a self-taught artist in his father’s studio. He evolved rapidly from a post-impressionist sensibility toward a more expressive style where emotion and introspection took center stage. In 1921 he held his first solo exhibition at Galerie Janus in Antwerp and took part in the “Kunst van Heden” exhibitions. His regular stays in Paris brought him into contact with poets such as Blaise Cendrars and Max Jacob, who praised his poetic sensitivity: “It is rare that so much imagination and spiritual refinement unite on a single canvas.”
From early on, Guiette was captivated by the tension between spirituality and modern form. His paintings of the 1920s combined symbolic themes with innovative use of color, revealing an artist searching for the place of the spirit in the modern world.
After the war, Guiette began painting as a self-taught artist in his father’s studio. He evolved rapidly from a post-impressionist sensibility toward a more expressive style where emotion and introspection took center stage. In 1921 he held his first solo exhibition at Galerie Janus in Antwerp and took part in the “Kunst van Heden” exhibitions. His regular stays in Paris brought him into contact with poets such as Blaise Cendrars and Max Jacob, who praised his poetic sensitivity: “It is rare that so much imagination and spiritual refinement unite on a single canvas.”
From early on, Guiette was captivated by the tension between spirituality and modern form. His paintings of the 1920s combined symbolic themes with innovative use of color, revealing an artist searching for the place of the spirit in the modern world.
Architecture, Le Corbusier, and Post-Cubism
At the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, Guiette discovered the work of Le Corbusier, whose vision of “L’Esprit Nouveau” deeply impressed him. He commissioned the architect to design a studio-residence modeled on that of Amédée Ozenfant. The Maison Guiette, built in 1926–1927 at Populierenlaan 32 in Wilrijk, remains Le Corbusier’s only Belgian building. This modernist house profoundly shaped Guiette’s art: it led him toward stricter composition, geometric balance, and an architectural way of thinking about space and light.
His paintings from this period evolved into a post-cubist style where architectural order and rhythmic planes replaced traditional composition. The canvas became a construction—clear in structure yet never cold. Influences from Picasso, Ozenfant, and Léger merged into a personal language reconciling spirituality and reason.
In the 1930s he exhibited at the legendary Galerie Le Centaure in Brussels, which secured his artistic independence. He participated in group shows at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and in Guiette–Magritte–Picard at the Palais des Beaux-Arts (1931–1932). This period established him as an innovative force in Belgian modern painting.
His paintings from this period evolved into a post-cubist style where architectural order and rhythmic planes replaced traditional composition. The canvas became a construction—clear in structure yet never cold. Influences from Picasso, Ozenfant, and Léger merged into a personal language reconciling spirituality and reason.
In the 1930s he exhibited at the legendary Galerie Le Centaure in Brussels, which secured his artistic independence. He participated in group shows at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and in Guiette–Magritte–Picard at the Palais des Beaux-Arts (1931–1932). This period established him as an innovative force in Belgian modern painting.
War Years, Loss, and Material Painting
The 1929 economic crisis and the Second World War marked a deep rupture in Guiette’s life. The collapse of his gallery and later the death of his son Vincent during the 1944 bombing of the Rex cinema brought a period of introspection. Out of this grief emerged his material painting phase. Guiette began using sand, pigment, scratches, and incisions; paint became skin, and the canvas a relief that made suffering and transience tangible.
After the war he taught at La Cambre in Brussels, where he lectured on photography and color theory. His lessons on texture, rhythm, and balance influenced a new generation of artists. In 1948 he represented Belgium at the Venice Biennale, alongside Ensor, Delvaux, and Magritte, and joined Jean Dubuffet’s Compagnie de l’Art Brut.
Works such as Machine à coudre (1944) and Papillon de nuit (1950) reveal a delicate balance between roughness and stillness. Matter itself became the vehicle of emotion, a bridge between the tangible and the transcendent. His art gained international recognition through exhibitions in Paris, Amsterdam, Basel, and New York.
After the war he taught at La Cambre in Brussels, where he lectured on photography and color theory. His lessons on texture, rhythm, and balance influenced a new generation of artists. In 1948 he represented Belgium at the Venice Biennale, alongside Ensor, Delvaux, and Magritte, and joined Jean Dubuffet’s Compagnie de l’Art Brut.
Works such as Machine à coudre (1944) and Papillon de nuit (1950) reveal a delicate balance between roughness and stillness. Matter itself became the vehicle of emotion, a bridge between the tangible and the transcendent. His art gained international recognition through exhibitions in Paris, Amsterdam, Basel, and New York.
Zen Inspiration and Spiritual Abstraction
From the late 1950s onward, Guiette found new freedom in abstraction. His work abandoned all reference to the visible world and became meditative. Influenced by Zen philosophy and Eastern calligraphy, painting turned into a spiritual exercise: each brushstroke symbolized breath, rhythm, and concentration.
His canvases and watercolors from this period display restrained color fields and calligraphic signs functioning as visual mantras. He used sand and thin layers of paint, carving or scratching to create subtle traces of energy. His process sought the moment when matter turns into spirit—what he called “the birth of the spiritual from the material.”
Works such as Untitled (1951) testify to this contemplative simplicity, placing Guiette alongside contemporaries like Henri Michaux and Pierre Alechinsky, though with a wholly personal sensibility. His painting became a form of silence, a meeting of Eastern meditation and Western formal discipline.
His canvases and watercolors from this period display restrained color fields and calligraphic signs functioning as visual mantras. He used sand and thin layers of paint, carving or scratching to create subtle traces of energy. His process sought the moment when matter turns into spirit—what he called “the birth of the spiritual from the material.”
Works such as Untitled (1951) testify to this contemplative simplicity, placing Guiette alongside contemporaries like Henri Michaux and Pierre Alechinsky, though with a wholly personal sensibility. His painting became a form of silence, a meeting of Eastern meditation and Western formal discipline.
Recognition, Legacy, and Lasting Influence
In 1964 René Guiette was elected to the Royal Academy of Belgium and in 1975 received the Prix Quinquennal de Peinture, official recognition of his contribution to Belgian modern art. His works were exhibited worldwide—in Basel, Amsterdam, Brussels, Venice, Tokyo, and at the Guggenheim Museum New York.
Guiette died in 1976 in Antwerp, soon followed by his wife Marie Tinchant. His grave at Schoonselhof no longer exists, but his spiritual legacy endures in museums, publications, and private collections across Belgium and abroad (The Hague, Basel, Paris, São Paulo). His oeuvre remains an anchor in 20th-century Belgian art, where the dialogue between matter and mysticism found rare purity.
Group 2 Gallery continues to present this heritage through exhibitions, private viewings, and collection guidance. Available oil paintings, gouaches, and watercolors reflect Guiette’s unique place between architectural modernity, inner calm, and spiritual strength.
Guiette died in 1976 in Antwerp, soon followed by his wife Marie Tinchant. His grave at Schoonselhof no longer exists, but his spiritual legacy endures in museums, publications, and private collections across Belgium and abroad (The Hague, Basel, Paris, São Paulo). His oeuvre remains an anchor in 20th-century Belgian art, where the dialogue between matter and mysticism found rare purity.
Group 2 Gallery continues to present this heritage through exhibitions, private viewings, and collection guidance. Available oil paintings, gouaches, and watercolors reflect Guiette’s unique place between architectural modernity, inner calm, and spiritual strength.
