Michel Seuphor
Fernand Berckelaers (10 March 1901, in Borgerhout – 12 February 1999, in Paris), pseudonym Michel Seuphor (anagram of Orpheus), was a Belgian painter. • Illustration — Michel Seuphor Seuphor established a literary magazine, Het Overzicht, in Antwerp in 1921. He moved in Dutch, Belgian, and French avant-garde circles. He associated at various points with Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian, and was influenced by their iconic Neo-plasticist works.
Also recorded as Fernand Berckelaers · Fernant Berckelaers · Ferdinand Louis Berckelaers · Michel Berckelaers
Michel Seuphor

Anton-kurt · CC BY-SA 3.0 at
- Born
- 1901
- Died
- 1999
- Nationality
- France · Belgium · France
- Occupation
- painter · poet · art historian · printmaker · photographer · draftsperson · writer · visual artist
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Fernand Berckelaers (10 March 1901, in Borgerhout – 12 February 1999, in Paris), pseudonym Michel Seuphor (anagram of Orpheus), was a Belgian painter. • Illustration — Michel Seuphor Seuphor established a literary magazine, Het Overzicht, in Antwerp in 1921. He moved in Dutch, Belgian, and French avant-garde circles. He associated at various points with Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian, and was influenced by their iconic Neo-plasticist works.
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wikidata · Q548860 · wikipedia · Michel Seuphor
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Biography
Biography
Along with Joaquin Torres-Garcia and Pierre Daura, Seuphor founded the abstract artists' group Cercle et Carré which included Wassily Kandinsky and Le Corbusier. In 1934, Seuphor moved to Anduze in the South of France following his marriage. NY, 1960), "Piet Mondrian: Life and Work" (Thames & Hudson, 1956) and "Abstract Painting in Flanders (Fonds Mercator, 1974). These volumes, now out of print, remain among the most valuable documents of abstract painting & sculpture in the 20th century. The painting books have numerous color illustrations which document the various paths that abstract painting took, especially after World War II. The sculpture book has black & white photos that track both figurative as well as abstract sculpture from early 20th century through 1959. Also contains a short bio in the back of the book on each sculptor mentioned. Seuphor also assisted with the Tudor companion volume of his Dictionary of Abstract Painting, the Dictionary of Modern Painting, which documents all the various schools of painting in the 20th century, including both abstract and realist painting. Seuphor contributed to many exhibition catalogues. He also owned a contemporary art collection of works by Marcelle Cahn, Adam Jankowski, Jean Piaubert, Jean Gorin, Jean Miotte, Aurélie Nemours and Victor Vasarely.

Paul Dermée, Michel Seuphor en Enrico Prampolini in het atelier van Mondriaan in Parijs
Anonymous Unknown author · https: leiden.courant.nu/issue/LLC/1976-12-04/edition/0/page/18
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1901
Michel Seuphor was born in 1901.
1999
Michel Seuphor died at Paris.
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.harvsp Sauwen Viatte Seuphor 1976 p=16 .
- 2.harvsp Sauwen Viatte Seuphor 1976 p=17 .
- 3.harvsp Sauwen Viatte Seuphor 1976 p=210 .
- 4.harvsp Alexandre Grenier 1996 p=321 .
- 5.Les faux Mondrian en appel - La cour confirme la bonne foi de M. Michel Seuphor. Le Monde. 1985 .
- 6.La Vocation des Mots. Hanc. 1966.
- 7.Marc Trillet. Dada à Lyon : le docteur Emile Malespine. Mémoires de l'académie de Lyon, série, t. 4, années 2004. 2005. p. 227-234.
- 8.Dans le cadre d'un colloque international de l'université de Nantes (13,14, ) : .
Bibliography printed in the source article · 10
- Cercle et carré. Vanves-Seines : Groupe international « Cercle et carré ». 1930. 70724322.
- Itinéraire spirituel de Michel Seuphor. S.P.I.E. 1946.
- Seuphor. Centre national d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou. 377. 1976. 978-90-6153-084-8.
- Michel Seuphor. Carmen Martinez. 1976.
- Cercle et Carré, peinture et avant-garde au seuil des années 1930. L'Age d’homme. 1984. 65695652.
- Les Actes du colloque Michel Seuphor à l'université de Nantes en 1985. Les Méridiens Klincksieck. 1986. 2-86563-153-2.
- Michel Seuphor, une vie à angle droit. La Différence. 1988. 978-2-7291-0340-8.
- Seuphor, la traversée du siècle. Musée bibliothèque Pierre-André Benoit. 1991. 2-907791-11-7.
- Michel Seuphor, un siècle de libertés, entretiens avec Alexandre Grenier. Hazan. 1996. 978-2-85025-468-0.
- Petit dictionnaire des écrivains du Gard. Alcide. 2009.
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The authorities additionally record the headings Fernand Berckelaers, Fernant Berckelaers, Ferdinand Louis Berckelaers and Michel Berckelaers. His recorded language was French.
Identity and origins
Recognition and collections
Work by Michel Seuphor is
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Finnish National Gallery, Museum of Modern Art and Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp
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 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Prints
4,138 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Michel Corneille the ElderEngraver
- Michel GouletEngraver
- Michel Honoré BounieuEngraver
- Michel LasneEngraver
- Michel-Barthélémy OllivierEngraver
- Michelangelo PistolettoEngraver
- Michele BisiEngraver
- Michele FanoliEngraver
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