Art on Sunday! New work going LIVE tonight: a large work a master of Modernism Stephen Bambury; and a surrealist work from Belgian artist, and student of Magritte, René van den Neste.
Stephen Bambury (1951-)
Stephen Bambury, one of New Zealand’s premier artists, is known for his modernist works that play with symmetries and dualities – of light/dark, negative/positive, masculine/feminine, the sea and the land, the intellectual and emotional, and the universal and the particular.
René van den Neste (1922-)
René van den Neste was born in Brussels in 1922. From an early age his talent for graphic art was spotted by his teachers, who encouraged him to proceed with an artistic career. He was interested in many facets of art: decorative painting, tapestry, landscapes and sculpture. He attended workshops with several famous artists, and in 1948 met an ageing Magritte, who was impressed by van den Neste’s talent and invited him to his studio. Van den Neste became friends with the circle of surrealist artists surrounding Magritte, particularly Paul Delvaux, whose work influenced him greatly.
Van den Neste’s remained a teacher throughout his life, ending his professional career as Director of Molenbeck Academy of Drawing and Decorative Arts in Brussels. Simultaneously he pursued his interests in surrealism and tapestry and his works can be found in numerous Belgian museums and private collections, including the collection of the Belgian Royal Family.