Big bird (Grosser Vogel), 1991

Guillaume Corneille was a radical artist who worked in paint, print and ceramics. He became friends with the artist Karel Appel while they were both students, and between 1948 and 1951 they took a leading part in founding the avant-garde group of international artists known as Cobra. Guillaume Corneille studied drawing at the Amsterdam Rijksakademie, but as a painter he was entirely self-taught. When he moved to Paris in 1951 he was already beginning to use a less naturalistic style and painted and more in the style of Cubism. His main influences were modern artists such as Paul Klee and Joan Miró. When he was first living in Paris he started his own collection of artifacts from Africa.Like Pablo Picasso and his circle, he took a strong interest in primitive art.The sensual use of color in his paintings was inspired by the works of Vincent van Gogh. Guillaume Corneille was a highly imaginative artist, frequently using stylized forms and figures of women, animals and exotic birds within mythical settings and in a bright and spontaneous context that is often childlike.