A Riot in Brussels
Georges Carrey (Paris, 1902 – Knokke, Belgium 1953)
Watercolour heightened with white chalk
Signed «Carrey»
Circa 1925-1930
37 cm x 26.7 cm (14" 9/16 x 10" 1/2)
With frame : 41 cm x 30.8 cm (16" 1/8 x 12" 1/8)
 
Born in Paris, Carrey settled in Brussels in 1922 where he began to draw illustrations for magazines, and posters; for a while, he was a commercial artist for an advertising company, he also painted still lives, landscapes, and mostly portraits, the latter earning him a rapid success.
The turmoil of WW2 brought about Carrey a crisis of conscience.
In search of a new language, a different form of expression, he converted to abstract painting and returned to Paris to free himself from the shackles of figurative painting.
For a while, he signed up for lessons with André Lhote, and he became friends with Nicolas de Stael, Poliakoff, Schneider, Chapoval.
In 1952, he returned to Brussels where he co-founded the group "Art abstrait".
1953: Carrey was on the road to success, he had exhibitions, an art dealer but he died of a sudden heart attack.