E. L. T. Mesens
Édouard Léon Théodore Mesens (27 November 1903 – 13 May 1971) was a Belgian artist and writer associated with the Belgian Surrealist movement.
Also recorded as Edouard Léon Théodore Mesens · ELT Mesens · E.L.T. Mesens · Edouard L. T. Mesens
E. L. T. Mesens
JoJan · Self-photographed of a photo · CC BY 3.0
- Name
- E.
- Birth Name
- Édouard Léon Théodore Mesens
- Born
- 27 November 1903
- Birthplace
- Brussels, Belgium
- Died
- 13 May 1971
- Known for
- Belgian Surrealist movement
- Occupation
- artist, writer
- Full name
- Édouard Léon Théodore Mesens.
- Nationality
- Belgium
- Fields
- poetry · music · visual arts · surrealism
- Languages
- French
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Documentary summary
Édouard Léon Théodore Mesens (27 November 1903 – 13 May 1971) was a Belgian artist and writer associated with the Belgian Surrealist movement.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q3045738 · wikipedia · E. L. T. Mesens
In this article
Biography
Biography
The recorded working language is French. The field of work recorded is poetry, music and visual arts. Work by E. Mesens is recorded in the collections of Art Institute of Chicago, Tate, Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK) and Mu.ZEE - Kunstmuseum aan Zee.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — E. L. T. Mesens • Birth Name — Édouard Léon Théodore Mesens • Born — 27 November 1903 • Birthplace — Brussels, Belgium • Died — 13 May 1971 • Place of death — Brussels, Belgium • Known for — Belgian Surrealist movement • Occupation — artist, writer
Biography
Biography
Mesens was born in Brussels, Belgium. He started his artistic career as a musician influenced by Erik Satie and an author of dadaist poems. He was a publisher of the books Œesophage and Marie with his lifetime friend and soulmate René Magritte. His activity as one of the leaders of the surrealist movement in Belgium was eased by him being an owner of a gallery, where he organised the first surrealist exhibition in Belgium in 1934. He also went to co-organise the London International Surrealist Exhibition, which made him settle in London. There he became the director of the London Gallery (which he ran during the late 1930s and after the war with Roland Penrose) and the chief editor of the London Bulletin (1938–1940), which was one of the most important bulletins among the English-language Surrealist periodicals. Mesens died in 1971 following a "long, lingering, painful illness". According to an obituary published by poet and historian Franklin Rosemont, Mesens committed "suicide by absinthe", drinking himself to death by wilfully disregarding doctors' orders to abstain from alcohol.
Works
Works
• Alphabet sourd aveugle - Flamel, Brussels - with preface and a note by Paul Éluard (1933) • Troisième Front - London Gallery Editions (1944) • Free Unions - Unions Libres - Directed by Simon Watson Taylor (1946) • The Cubist Spirit in Its Time - London Gallery Editions - with Robert Melville (1947) • Poèmes, 1923–1958 - Le Terrain Vague (1959)
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
Mesens was recorded at birth as Édouard Léon Théodore Mesens. The authorities additionally record the headings Edouard Léon Théodore Mesens, ELT Mesens, E.L.T.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1903
E. L. T. Mesens was born in 1903 at Brussels metropolitan area.
1971
E. L. T. Mesens died in 1971 at Brussels metropolitan area.
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.The Star Alphabet by E.L.T. Mesens: Dada & Surrealism in Brussels, Paris & London. 2014. 9491775111.
- 2.E.L.T. Mesens. Pogen-jaargang 1. 1923.
- 3.Hoe Norine Parijs counterde. 7-12-2020.
- 4.Raising the Flag of Modernism: Ben Nicholson’s 1938. 29 januari 2014.
- 5.John Cecil Stephenson (1889-1965) A Modernist in Hampstead. 18-9-2022.
- 6.Don't tell Sybil : an intimate memoir of E.L.T. Mesens. 1997. 0-434-462-500.
- 7.E.L.T. Mesens. jan-feb 1972 vol. 6, no. 1 (Jan.–Feb. 1972), pp. 103–107.
- 8.Sjoerd Meihousen and J. Gibbs, Finding aid for the E. L. T. Mesens papers, 1917-1976, bulk 1920-1971, OAC (Online Archive California) http://pdf.oac.cdlib.org/pdf/getty/spcoll/920094.pdf Gearchiveerd op 19 april 2022.
- 9.Tatave ! Paul-Gustave Van Hecke - kunstpaus, modekoning, salonsocialist. nl. 19/04/2017. 9789020999716.
- 10.E. L. T. Mesens papers. Online archive of California.
- 11.Louis Scutenaire « Mon ami Mesens », [Luc Canon], Bruxelles, 1972, p. 31
- 12.Het Magritte blufboek. De Standaard. 27-5-2009.
- 13.Het verborgen leven van René Magritte. Brussel blogt. 24/5/2020.
- 14.De ineenstorting van de Belgische kunstmarkt in 1930. De Tijd. 17/1/1992.
- 15.Iets geleends, iets nieuws René Magritte I. 25-6-2019.
- 16.Mesens expositie in Oostende. Historiën. 2014.
- 17.De figuur op "De bedreigde moordenaar" uit 1926 lijkt verrassend goed op E.L.T. Mesens van "Clairvoyance", maar dit is niet aangetoond.
- 18.“Moi, je suis musicien, E.L.T Mesens as a musician (1919-1927)”.
- 19.Collection Title : E.L.T. Mesens. Online Archive of California.
- 20.Magrittemania. Gazet van Antwerpen. 2 juni 2009.
- 21.De anonieme carrière van een Belgische surrealist. 2005.
- 22.E.L.T. Mesens et les stratégies de diffusion de l’art des surréalistes. Le cas Paul Delvaux en Grande-Bretagne. Le surréalisme et l’argent.
- 23.De prijs die Galerie Le Centaure van Paul-Gustave Van Hecke per werk had betaald voor 200 à 250 schilderijen van Magritte, in het kader van een contractuele overeenkomst waarbij Magritte een maandelijks toelage kreeg.
- 24.Brochure.
- 25.First surrealist art exhibition in England - archive, 1936. The Guardian. 12-6-2018.
- 26.London surrealist exhibition. André Breton / The collection.
- 27.The London Gallery, 1938-1950: Collecting and Patronage of Surrealist Art in Britain (8 October, 2021). The society for the history of collecting.
- 28.Tijdens de Blitz op Londen in de herfst van 1940 werden 19 werken van Magritte vernield. Het depot van de London Gallery met een honderdtal schilderijen van onder andere ook Ernst, Delvaux, Ray en Marcoussis, brandde toen volledig uit. https://www.bruzz.be/culture/expo/ontroerend-weerzien-met-magritte-2014-03-12. Gearchiveerd op 11 februari 2023.
- 29.“Shaping British Surrealism: the journal London Bulletin (1938-1940)”. Conference of the International Society for the Study of Surrealism. 29-31 augustus 2019.
- 30.Dokter Reimond de Beir, arts te Knokke (1879- 1945).
- 31.René Magritte. November 1953 / The Lefevre Gallery.
- 32.Magritte: Word Vs Image: Exhibition Sidney Janis Gallery, March 1 Thru 20, 1954. 1954.
- 33.On How Alexander Iolas And André Mourges (Practically) Invented The Contemporary Art. 11-3-2022.
- 34.Het Centre Pompidou bezit verschillende foto's die gemaakt zijn door Mesens, maar ook foto's die door Man Ray van hem zijn gemaakt. https://www.centrepompidou.fr/fr/ressources/oeuvre/cBz5Ey. Gearchiveerd op 11 februari 2023.
- 35.Irène Hamoir publiceerde in 1953 een roman met de titel: Boulevard Jacqmain, die ze vóór 1939 heeft geschreven. In deze roman verschijnen de leden van Belgische surrealistische groep onder schuilnamen, zoals Nouguier voor Paul Nougé, Gritto voor Magritte, Maître Bridge voor Louis Scutenaire, Edouard Massens (uitbater van Osque's Bar) voor E.L.T. Mesens, Bergère voor Georgette Magritte, Marquis voor Paul Magritte, Sourire voor André Souris, Monsieur Marcel voor Marcel Lecomte, Evrard voor Geert Van Bruane, Crépue voor haar zelf (Bruxelles, Éditions des Artistes, 1953; Bruxelles, Didier Devillez Éditeur, 1996).
- 36.Une exposition de collages par E.L.T. Mesens [Galerie Furstenberg, 1958]. RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History.
- 37.Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België. 11-2-2023.
- 38.Verbeke Foundation - Collectie.
- 39.E.L.T. Mesens. Tate.
- 40.Expo: E.L.T. Mesens comme nous l’entendons. 1-9-2011.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q3045738: E. L. T. MesensWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Illustration
5,224 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- E. B. BensellIllustrator
- E. C. KnightIllustrator
- E. Gertrude ThomsonIllustrator
- E. Kate WestrupIllustrator
- E. Roscoe ShraderIllustrator
- E. W. KembleIllustrator
- E. W. RobinsonIllustrator
- Earl Lincoln PooleIllustrator
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