MA-g
The Museum of Avant-garde

Michel Seuphor

Belgium (1901—1999)
Born Fernand Berckelaers, he changed his name into Seuphor, anagram of Orpheus in 1917. In 1921 he founded the magazine Het Overzicht. From 1922 he started to travel and became acquainted with the European avant-garde groups in Berlin, Rome and Paris. He founded the group Cercle et Carré, with Joaquín Torres García. He directed the group magazine with the contribution of artists such as Mondrian, Hans and Sophie Arp, Léger, Schwitters and Kandinsky. From 1931 to 1938 he left Paris for health issues and upon his return he organised a number of abstract art exhibitions. In 1949 he wrote L'Art abstrait, ses origines, ses premiers maîtres. From 1950s he dedicated himself to art critics with a strong focus on XXth century abstract art, publishing Dictionnaire de la Peinture abstraite and Sculpture de ce siècle two years later.