Corneille was born in 1922 in Liège, Belgium, as Corneille Guillaume Beverloo. He was a painter and graphic artist who shook up the Dutch art scene in the early 1950s. He helped start the CoBrA movement, a group of post-war European artists that included Karel Appel and Asger Jorn. The name CoBrA comes from the first letters of the members’ home cities: Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam.

Corneille was born to Dutch parents in Belgium, he moved to the Netherlands when he was young and started studying at the Academy of Art in Amsterdam in 1940. Even though he had formal training, many people see him as mostly self-taught because he developed his own unique and expressive style.

In 1950, Corneille moved to Paris, where he lived and worked for many years. He married photographer Henny Riemens in 1955, and together they travelled to places like North Africa, North America, the Caribbean, and South America. These trips influenced his art, adding new colours and themes to his work.

Starting around 1960, Corneille went back to a more figurative style, often painting women, birds, flowers, and imaginative figures. His art stood out for its bright colours and poetic feel. Even though he lived in Paris for many years, he kept close ties to Amsterdam.

For Corneille, painting was more than just a job; it was his calling. In his later years, he lived and worked quietly in France. He died on September 5, 2010, in Auvers-sur-Oise, where he was buried.

Today, both Dutch and international collectors still admire Corneille’s work for its intuitive style, expressive freedom, and lasting importance in post-war European art.

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