MARTHE WÉRY Belgium, 1930-2005

The belgian painter Marthe Wéry was born in 1930, she died in 2005 in Brussels.

Wéry quickly abandoned any figurative reference to produce abstract works where monochrome and repetition dominate in the form of checkerboards and lineage. Over the course of her life, she renewed herself constantly, ranging from geometric studies to minimalist painting, and radical painting. Among other things, she practised etching and aquatint. She also attaches great importance to the architecture and the light of the places where her works are exhibited. She has rigorously exploited all the possibilities of the surface and the colour sought for its opacity or transparency. Willingly seduced by the series, in painting as in engraving, she knew how to exploit its monumental aspect by vast compositions modulating the space.

Her first solo exhibition occurred in 1965 at the Galerie Saint-Laurent in Brussels. She participated in the Venice Biennale in 1982. From 1985, she was entrusted with numerous public orders. She has made works for the Clinique Universitaire du Sart Tilman in Liège, for the Albert metro station in Brussels, as well as stained glass windows for the collegiate church in Nivelles. In 1988 a personal exhibition was dedicated to her in Lyon. In 2002, the sovereigns inaugurated a series of paintings by Marthe Wéry at the Royal Palace in Brussels. Queen Paola had created an artistic committee to integrate Belgian contemporary art into the building built in the 19th century. Marthe Wéry was chosen alongside Jan Fabre, Dirk Braeckman and Patrick Corillon. Her paintings adorn the hallway on the ground floor that leads to the King's private office and are visible free of charge when the royal palace opens to the public each summer.