Paul Daxhelet, dance of women, expressionist painting, oil on canvas

Oil on canvas, untitled, depicting the dance of red “tree-women” with multicolored leaves against a midnight blue background.

The atmosphere is poetic and spiritual, yet at the same time powerful and untamed. The colors are vibrant and contrasting. Signed on the front, lower right.

Canvas size: 80 x 100 cm; dimensions with frame: 94 x 114 cm.

Paul Daxhelet

Paul Alfred Marie Daxhelet, born on November 25, 1905 in Liège and died on October 3, 1993 in Liège, was a Belgian painter, draftsman, watercolorist, and engraver.

Trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Liège and later at the Académie Julian in Paris (1926), he began his career in the 1930s with an Impressionist style, producing works where sporting themes dominated, particularly boxing, which he practiced himself.

After the First World War, he worked mainly in the South of France.

During a trip in 1951, he fell under the spell of the Belgian Congo. From then on, he became the painter of colonial exoticism. From his travels — in Africa, India, the Far East, South America, Polynesia, and Senegal — he brought back sketches and drawings made on the spot, which later served as the basis for paintings characterized by color and movement.

He drew inspiration from African landscapes, its fauna and flora, its inhabitants, local markets, and dancers. His paintings were executed in a vivid palette, sometimes with an abstract background.

He taught at the Academy of Liège from 1957 to 1970.

Works in the Print Room of Liège and Brussels.