Adrien de Menasce, Egyptian/British 1925-1995 - Ecriture, 1957; watercolour on paper, signed and inscribed lower right 'Menasce XII - 57 aquarelle haute', 43 x 27.3 cm Note: Adrien de Menasce was born in Alexandria, but moved to Paris in the 1950s...

Adrien de Menasce,
Egyptian/British 1925-1995 -

Ecriture, 1957;

watercolour on paper, signed and inscribed lower right 'Menasce XII - 57 aquarelle haute', 43 x 27.3 cm

Note: Adrien de Menasce was born to a prominent Alexandrian family, but moved to Paris in the 1950s, where his work was soon influenced by the existentialist abstractions of Taschist artists such as Wols, Vieira da Silva and Henri Michaux. These works from the 1950s were called ‘Ecritures’ (‘Writings’) by the artist, creating an abstract language in the paint, half-seen and half-understood. De Menasce was encouraged to exhibit these works by Sir Herbert Read in Switzerland, where he also become friendly with Sonja Sekula, before eventually moving to London in the 1960s.

In the UK, de Menasce began to explore eroticism more deeply in his work, juxtaposing the landscape with the male body in both collage and painting. During the 1960s, de Menasce met his future-partner, the author Sam Lock, and his twin-brother Wilfred Avery, a fellow artist whose mature work would explore a similar visual language. Both artists created a unique and highly individual contribution to Post-War British art and queer visual culture, and one that should be recognised alongside that of Keith Vaughan, Francis Bacon and David Hockney.
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