Jules Schmalzigaug, Development of a theme in red: carnival

by Atelier Liesjes

The canvas is almost entirely red: vermilion, carmine and a dull brick colour, interspersed here and there with patches of blue and yellow. The paint has been applied thickly and smoothed out with the brush, so that the brushstrokes lie across the surface like scars. At the top, a white and grey tangle swirls like a whirl of confetti; beneath it, broad, diagonal bands cut through the red, and on the right a long, pinkish curve floats like a pendulum. In the centre, a light, almost faded area can be seen, as if a figure had been wiped away there. In the bottom right-hand corner is the signature with the year 1914. The image has no fixed top or bottom: everything is in motion. The edges of the canvas also remain restless, where the paint has been spread more thinly. The title reveals the method. Schmalzigaug worked on series in which he explored the same theme in different colours and at different paces', and this canvas is the red variant of that series. The movement of the brush is the actual subject: no procession, no costumed figures, just the exhilaration of carnival, translated into colour and momentum. The style is both futuristic and expressionist, with a palette that could have come from the French Fauvists. The atmosphere is exuberant and feverish, a celebration on the verge of getting out of hand. Jules Schmalzig (Antwerp 1882 – The Hague 1917) was the only Belgian Futurist and one of the few artists of his generation to treat colour as consistently as movement. He exhibited in Brussels and Antwerp and was admired by his contemporaries for his boldness, but remained a relatively prolific artist due to his short life. He worked at a time when Belgian painters were embracing Expressionism, but opted for a cool, calculated use of colour. A powerful, red work that instantly brings warmth and dynamism to a modern wall.