Star Alphabet by E.L.T. Mesens

Mieke Mels, Phillip van den Bossche, E. L. T. Mesens, Kunstmuseum aan Zee Staff

Edouard Léon Théodore Mesens (1903-1971) was a main figure in twentieth-century European art. He was known as the "talisman of surrealism". Like a collage, his artistic vocation comprised various fragments: he was a composer, poet, publisher, photographer, exhibition maker and above all a passionate promoter of art. In the early 1920s E.L.T. Mesens played an active role in the European art scene, becoming friends with Tristan Tzara, Theo van Doesburg, Erik Satie and other artists. He appointed himself one of the driving forces of the surrealist movement. It was Mesens to whom René Magritte owed his international reputation and it was Mesens who introduced surrealism to the U.K. He surrounded himself with artists, including Roland Penrose, Lee Miller, Max Ernst, Kurt Schwitters, André Breton, Yves Tanguy and Man Ray. His life was entirely devoted to imagination and poetry. Discover...