tudent
of Roger de La Fresnaye, Courmes settled in Paris in 1925, where
he had exhibits at the Salon des indépendants, and at
the Salon d’automne. He created cubist paintings, Nature
morte cubiste au pinceau, 1921, painted portraits (Peggy Guggenheim,
1926), and dealt with popular themes inspired from Bruegel and
Bosch. During a visit to Ostende (1927-1930), he discovered
surrealism and Flemish expressionism, and painted L’Homme
blessé (1929) in honour of R. de La Fresnaye. Returned
to Paris (1930), he received the Paul-Guillaume prize in 1936
for Saint-Sébastien (1934), that mixed Christian iconography
with contemporary publ icity. After le Toucher, created for
the Exposition universelle of 1937, he practised a painting
of the “illusionist” style, composed, among other
effects, of mirrored plans. In 1937, the Minister of National
Education, Albert Sarraut, offered him to decorate the Dining
Room at the Embassy of France in Canada.
In the 1960s, Courmes accentuated the ironic character of
his paintings (La Pneumatique Salutation d’Angélique,
1968). He participated, in 1981, at the Réalismes exhibit
at the George-Pompidou Centre.
tudent
of Roger de La Fresnaye, Courmes settled in Paris in 1925, where
he had exhibits at the Salon des indépendants, and at
the Salon d’automne. He created cubist paintings, Nature
morte cubiste au pinceau, 1921, painted portraits (Peggy Guggenheim,
1926), and dealt with popular themes inspired from Bruegel and
Bosch. During a visit to Ostende (1927-1930), he discovered
surrealism and Flemish expressionism, and painted L’Homme
blessé (1929) in honour of R. de La Fresnaye. Returned
to Paris (1930), he received the Paul-Guillaume prize in 1936
for Saint-Sébastien (1934), that mixed Christian iconography
with contemporary publ icity. After le Toucher, created for
the Exposition universelle of 1937, he practised a painting
of the “illusionist” style, composed, among other
effects, of mirrored plans. In 1937, the Minister of National
Education, Albert Sarraut, offered him to decorate the Dining
Room at the Embassy of France in Canada.