Paule Vezelay
(1892 - 1984) |
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Art Work
| Name: |
Paule Vezelay |
| Gender: |
Female |
| Place of Birth: |
Marjorie Watson-Williams, Bristol, United Kingdom |
| Nationality: |
British |
| Birth: |
1892 |
| Death: |
1984 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
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| Medium: |
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| Method: |
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| Style: |
Abstraction-Creation |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
Printmaking
Sculpture |
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Biography
Although she worked across media, as a printmaker, painter, sculptor and textile designer, all of Paule Vezelay's art is united in its exploration of line and balance. Early works represent this theme figuratively: a curvaceous woman teeters across the tightrope in the print la Danseuse a la Corde of 1923 (Tate)- In later abstract paintings, soft rounded forms are balanced by sharp shadows. The series of sculptures lines in Space of the 1950s are made from threads stretched across a frame. Vezelay also used wire, which allowed her to contrast curves and straight lines. Light falling across the pieces added another dimension, as she acknowledged in the title of her 1954 exhibition at the Leicester Galleries, Lines in space and their Shadows.
Vezelay was also a curator and writer, organizing an exhibition of contemporary British art in 1925 which showcased Paul Nash and Ben Nicholson, among others. Thirty years later she curated a show at the Royal Festival Hall of members of the Groupe Espace, including Jean Arp, Sonia Delaunay, Walter Gropius, Ithel Colquhoun, Marlow Moss and herself. Her writings include a series of articles on aspects of London life.
Vezelay's image was important to her. In her self-portrait of the late 1920s, Harmony (National Portrait Gallery, London), the artist painted herself in gentle grays and pinks, arms languorously raised over her head, but this softness contrasts with the sharpness of the lines, echoing her incisive gaze. Born Marjorie Watson Williams, she had changed her name on moving to Paris in 1926, signaling her allegiance to the French art world. She was sure of her own stature as the first English abstract artist to achieve an international reputation, although she commented in an interview with the Observer in 1983 (the year of her Tate retrospective): 'You have to be twice as good as men to get recognition.' |
Samples of Work
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