A Amid the unsettled years after World War I, while artistic innovation thrived, critics were captivated by the ambiguously titled avant-garde Tour Donas. “One finds a kind of allure in the creations of Tour Donas unfamiliar in seeing in painters of his school,” remarked an observer, “a kind of soft reserve that seems to reveal delicate femininity.” These pieces, in reality, her work, namely the Belgian artist, an Antwerp native who adopted an androgynous pseudonym to navigate a field largely controlled by males.
As Tour Donas, Marthe enjoyed a brief but dazzling career, prior to fading from view. Currently, the city of her birth presents a major exhibition establishing her in the modernist pantheon, alongside Alexander Archipenko as well as renowned creators. The display, starting this weekend at KMSKA, showcases numerous creations, including cubist artworks with rich hues, glimmering fabric motifs, and geometric abstractions.
The feeling of abstraction is paired with refinement,” the curator noted. One finds a true quest for novelty, for innovation … alongside that is an immense desire, a craving for traditional aesthetics.”
Unlike more radical artists, La Section d’Or were not radicals, stated by the curator. One of the most prized works on display is the work The Dance, painted by the artist during 1918-1919. The work was considered lost, until found in Japan ahead of the Antwerp display.
Beginnings and Struggles
She was born in 1885 to a well-to-do francophone household in the city. Her grandfather practiced realism, however, her father was not keen on a career in art; he pulled her out from art school at that time following just one month.
Ten years afterward, she returned to school, set on becoming a painter, after a life-changing accident. She fell off a roof while trying to catch a glimpse of the monarch, on a trip to the city, smashing through a glass ceiling during the fall. Her training were halted by the 1914 invasion. Although her family left to the Netherlands, Marthe went to Dublin, where she studied art and learned how to make stained glass. After a spell in Paris, transformative for her style, but drained her savings, she moved to the Riviera as an art tutor to a rich lady.
Innovation and Alliance
She encountered Archipenko in Nice in 1917. The pair soon clicked. He called her “my best student” and began to promote her work. Donas created her shaped paintings, works that shunned standard rectangular frames for uniquely shaped pictures that highlighted their distorted perspectives.
Although contemporary shaped art are frequently credited to the Hungarian artist, historians contend she led the way among her peers to develop this “totally different art form”.
However, her input was ignored. During that period, cubism and abstract art were considered masculine domains; too intellectual, too rational, for women.
Recognition and Legacy
Now, after decades, she is finally being acknowledged. KMSKA, which reopened in 2022, aims to highlight artists who are women in its displays. Earlier, the museum had only one by Donas, which was not always on display.
The showcase mirrors an expanding trend to rediscover overlooked women artists, like earlier innovators. Other exhibitions have unveiled from storage creations by other pioneers across different styles.
An expert dedicated a long time advocating for Donas, who he admires for “the elegance, the colours, the innovation and the beauty” of her creations. A co-curator involved in the project criticises the condescension by her peers. She wasn’t “a young pupil” at the time of their meeting, rather a mature creator in her own right.
Final Chapters and Legacy
The connection they shared concluded around 1921. She wed and relocated to a pastoral setting; he moved overseas. Subsequently, she disappeared from public view for two decades from the late 1920s, when she had a child at age 45. Later in life, Donas played down their relationship, saying it was merely “a brief period with him”.
This presentation uncovers a far deeper artistic energy. Finishing with a pair of pieces: a composition by Donas reflecting his sculpture held onto afterward. The vivid colours and curves of the two works work together, although specialists emphasize “she created independently, she never copied”.
- The exhibition showcasing modernist charm is on view through early 2026.
