Georges COLLIGNON (1923-2002) Abstraction Gouache on paper. Signed lower right and numbered "4.59". 31 x 46 cm. Note: Georges Collignon (Liège, 1923-2002) studied at the Liège Academy of Fine Arts with Auguste Mambour and worked at the Cristalleries du Val Saint-Lambert. His figurative beginnings were inspired by surrealism and René Magritte, but from 1945 he turned to abstraction. A member of the Apport group and then of the Jeune Peinture Belge (1946), he took part in the Cobra movement and founded the Réalité-Cobra group with Pol Bury in 1950. That same year, he shared the Jeune Peinture Belge prize with Pierre Alechinsky and Jean Dubosq. Moving to Paris in 1951, he joined the Art Abstrait group in 1952 and was awarded the Hélène Jacquet prize. He exhibited at the Salon de Mai and the Réalités Nouvelles, and was awarded the Marzotto prize in 1960. From 1964 onwards, he reintroduced figurative elements and, in 1968, took part in the Venice Biennale. His second period, marked by neo-figuration and hints of Pop Art, lasted until 2002. Very active in the A.P.I.A.W., he helped open Liège up to contemporary art. In 2005, the Lions Club Liège Val Mosan created the Prix Biennal Georges Collignon in his honour.