Eugène Brands – Original Gouache

1962

This striking gouache by Dutch artist Eugène Brands embodies his distinct visual language—expressive, vibrant, and charged with emotional depth. 

Hand-signed in black at the lower right: “brands”
Verso in pencil annotated and dated : “Kompositie ‘doorbraak 5.III.’62-4” (“Composition ‘Breakthrough” 5.III.’62-4).
Catalogued as : Cat. 2817 in pencil on the reverse. 
Work on cardboard.

The work bursts with energetic strokes of red, blue, yellow, and black against a dark atmospheric backdrop. The spontaneous, swirling gestures create a sense of cosmic tension and liberation—hallmarks of Brands' post-COBRA style.

The piece is professionally framed to museum standards: floated on linen in a double acid-free passe-partout, housed in a handcrafted wooden frame, with Plexiglas® Optical HC, offering UV protection, scratch resistance, and minimal reflection.
Size framed : approx. 70 × 60 cm

Eugène Brands (1913–2002) was a pivotal figure in Dutch post-war art and one of the early members of the avant-garde COBRA group (alongside Karel Appel, Corneille, and Asger Jorn). Known for his lyrical abstraction and spiritual sensibility, Brands moved away from COBRA in the early 1950s to pursue a more introspective and personal expression. His work often evokes themes of the cosmos, childhood, and primal emotion—crafted with intuitive energy and poetic color. Brands’ works are held in major collections, including the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Cobra Museum of Modern Art in Amstelveen.