Michel Seuphor (1901-1999), painter, abstract art critic and theorist, and author, was born as Ferdinand Berckelaers, but became a naturalized French citizen in 1964 under his pseudonym of Michel Seuphor. Seuphor is an anagram of Orpheus. He was one of the key figures from the art scene of the interbellum and one of the most reputable advocates of Abstract Art.
He established the group Cercle et Carré, in 1929 with the painter Joaquín Torres-Garcia (1874 – 1949), bringing together artists from various disciplines in order to protect Abstract Art via a journal, manifestos and exhibitions. In a short period of time, he builds up a very extensive network from the chief players of the avant-garde: from Fernand Léger (1881 – 1955) and Jean (Hans) Arp (1886 – 1966) to Jean Cocteau (1889 – 1963) and Sonia Delaunay (1885 – 1979) and Piet Mondriaan (1872 – 1944).
In 1951 he developed what he termed ‘dessins à lacunes’ or ‘gap drawings’. In these pen and ink drawings horizontal straight lines dominate, which are at varying distances from each other, made with a free hand. Via interruptions in the parallel lines, blank forms appear that seem to be released from the background.
