La Forêt de Pierres

Eric Slagter writes on Corneille and his work during the first half of the 1950's : "As Corneille moved away from Cobra he focused increasingly on the international art scene. He abandoned the naive style and concentrated on nature and urban elements in more structured forms. (...) His work acquired a certain strength, with greater use of geometric forms. He was inspired by the structure of stone and of the city. These changes were less dramatic than that stormy first year of Cobra. They developed more systematically, first in the paintings and then in the graphic art.(...)
A journey to Southern Algeria in 1951 led to an increasing interest in folk and primitive art: the geometric decorations of the nomadic tribes exercised a new influence on Corneille's work. (...)
In these years, his painting became more abstract, with large round and angular shapes and animated lines. He was fascinated by movement but at the same time sought rest. He was looking for a synthesis. The formative, the tension between order and chaos, became the recurring theme. Contrasting with the labyrinth of intertwining elements, the circle of the sun or a plane formed the centre that absorbed tension. Between the vital forces of nature and those of the inner world of experience, Corneille attempted to achieve a synthesis by creating a universal idiom within a living art. The earthly and the cosmic were drawn together in animated, dynamic paintings featuring movement in contrast to consolidation (see Exh.cat. Corneille. Corneille's weergaloze werkelijkheid, Cobra Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Amstelveen 1997, p. 130/131).