Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

Son of the painter Émile Lecomte, Marcel Lecomte (1900-1966) entered into artistic life in 1918 under the influence of Clément Pansaers, the most eminent Belgian "Dada".  He then joined the modernists of the 7 Arts magazine before rallying to the Correspondance group under the leadership of Paul Nougé, and thus Surrealism. In 1923, he revealed the work of Giorgio de Chirico to René Magritte. His poetic work is characterized by a careful attention to surprises and coincidences, with an acute sense of the moment.He saw in the work of art the magic mirror of the artist. At the end of the war, Pierre Alechinsky produced two illustrations for his book Le Sens des Tarots. He would also be the central figure of Salon Noir, the first significant ‘installation’ created by Broodthaers, in 1966.

Far from advocating a revolution, Lecomte was receptive to contemporary creation provided it was nourished by a certain past, in search of lost secrets, a back story. He wrote as a poet, just as Magritte accomplished a poetic act through his paintings. Hélène Prigogine saw in Lecomte ‘our last aesthete’ and Jean Paulhan, the 'grey eminence' of modern French literature, considered him ‘a true and great writer’. Paul Colinet represented him leaning towards a friend, in a room with infinite contours. Discreet but constant, his presence accompanied the whole history of Surrealism.

 Both this exhibition and the Magritte Museum will be exceptionally open 7/7 (except public holidays*) - from 13.10.2017 to 18.02.2018