Different views of face studies, with abstract lines drawn over some.

Benoît Gilsoul (1914 - 2000) was a Belgian artist known for his paintings, prints, tapestries, sculptures, and stained glass. While attending Belgian’s Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts he founded the secessionist art group: “L'Esquisse,” which later became the influential “Salon National des Jeunes Artistes.” In the 1960s, after falling in love with America, Gilsoul moved to New York, where he opened a studio. He began to focus on the medium of stained glass, where he soon became one of the finest craftsmen in the field. Some of his stained glass works include windows including his translation of a Ben Shahn painting into a window at Temple Beth Zion in Buffalo, windows at the Alice Millar Chapel at Northwestern, and a collaboration with artist Romare Bearden on City of Light, commissioned by New York’s MTA for the Westchester Square Station. Many of his paintings were clearly influenced by stained glass and reflect this in the Cubist-style geometric lines. Gilsoul many artistic abilities have all contributed to a large collection of works — the result of a lifetime of creation.

Year: c. 1980

Condition: Good, minor staining

Material: Pen and ink on paper