Jules Schmalzigaug, Dynamic Expression of a Dancer’s Movement, 1914

by Atelier Liesjes

A swirl of red, yellow and blue lines winds its way across an ivory-white background. The strokes are both dotted and fluid: they curl like ribbons, curve back, cross one another and set the space in motion. Within the tangle, the outline of a dancer emerges, her body composed of crescent-shaped swathes, an arm shooting upwards, a head tilting back, a train sweeping behind her. Nowhere is there a fixed outline; the figure exists solely by virtue of the movement that propels her. In the bottom left corner, the words ‘Schmalzigaug 1914’ are written in red letters, and a few loose blue strokes run along the lower edge. The paint has been applied to the canvas in short, pointed strokes, almost like a mosaic, so that the colours blend from a distance and, up close, break up into thousands of tiny dots. This divisionism is the driving force behind the painting: it transforms the dance into a vibration that seems to emanate from the canvas. Up close, the canvas is almost abstract; from a few paces away, it is immediately recognisable as a dancing figure. Red and blue stand in contrast as complementary colours, whilst yellow holds them together. The style is unmistakably Futurist, emphasising speed, rhythm and simultaneity rather than anatomy. The theme is dance as pure energy, and the atmosphere is exuberant, almost dizzying in its momentum. Jules Schmalzigaug (Antwerp 1882 – The Hague 1917) was the only Belgian painter to fully embrace Futurism. After training at the Antwerp Academy, he settled in Paris, where he came into contact with Boccioni, Carrà and Marinetti. His dancers and crowds are studies of movement, painted at a feverish pace. A vibrant, energetic work for a contemporary interior or a collection of modern Belgian art.