Jules Schmalzigaug, Colora, 1914

by Atelier Liesjes

White, red, yellow and blue swirl in broad, swirling strokes across the entire surface, like a whirl with no beginning or end. In the centre, long, light spirals rise upwards, interspersed with dark, curling lines reminiscent of smoke or movement in the air. The left-hand half is red and deep blue, whilst the right-hand half is more open and lighter, with patches of yellow and white. In the bottom right-hand corner are the artist’s signature and the date, 1914, in black paint. The colours are placed side by side unmixed, so that up close the work almost reads like a mosaic, whilst from a distance it appears to come to life. The paint is applied thickly and in a pasty manner, with visible brushstrokes and, here and there, a blob protruding from the surface; the work is painted on a panel, the edges of which remain visible on the left and at the bottom. Schmalzigaug sought movement itself as his subject: colour, direction and speed rather than a recognisable scene. The style is futuristic, akin to the work of Balla and Severini, with an abstract swirl that verges on Expressionism. The title *Colora* refers to colour as an independent medium. There is no horizon, no figure and no narrative: only direction, speed and contrast, in which the eye keeps returning to the light spiral in the centre, which runs through the picture like an axis.
Jules Schmalzigaug (Antwerp 1882 – The Hague 1917) lived in Venice from 1910 to 1914, where he came into contact with the Futurists and their manifestos. When war broke out, he fled to the Netherlands, where he died in 1917; his body of work remained small but exerted an influence on the Belgian avant-garde. A powerful, dynamic work for a contemporary interior, where it comes into its own as a splash of colour alongside minimalist furniture.