85 - HEERBRANT, Henri Composition 2. 1969 Relief on panel, 76.5 x 56.8 cm, signed and dated on the front, titled, attributed, and dated (1968) on the back (partial peeling of the paper in some places). Framed (missing a piece at the bottom edge). Henri Heerbrant (1912–1982) was an architect by training, employed at the architectural office of the municipality of Ixelles (Brussels), and above all, a painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and creator of assemblages of boundless inventiveness. He was also, incidentally, a member of the Resistance, interned by the Gestapo for possessing forged documents intended for Jewish refugees. In 1949, Camille Goemans introduced him to members of the French Surrealist group, but the connections thus established were short-lived. In 1950, the Galerie Lou Cosyn dedicated an exhibition to him. For this occasion, an invitation card was published to serve as a (small) catalog, featuring a laudatory text by René Magritte and others by Marcel Lecomte and Camille Goemans. Associated with the “Phases” group and its Belgian branch led by his friend and admirer, the painter Jacques Lacomblez, Heerbrant actively contributed to the journal “Edda” (1958–1964). The “Group 2 Gallery” (Sint-Genesius-Rode, 1640, Belgium) has dedicated several exhibitions to him and published a substantial monograph on him in 1991. Exhibition: Triënnale voor plastische kunst (label on the reverse). Provenance: [Gita Brys-Schatan].