Jane Graverol (1905–1984) was a Belgiansurrealist painter of French extraction.[1]
Jane Graverol was born inIxelles on 18 December 1905 to Alexandre Graverol and Anne-Marie Lagadec. After a traditional education, she enrolled in theBrusselsAcadémie Royale des Beaux-Arts in 1921, where she was taught byJean Delville andConstant Montald. She started painting between 1920 and 1930; this was before the rise of surrealism, and before she adapted the style she is known for today. Her works from that time bear the stamp ofsymbolism. She began to exhibit her work in 1927. Between 1960 and 1970, when the popularity of surrealism decreased, she mainly painted compositions focusing on subjects like war and violence. This is also when she painted her flora and fauna works.[2]
During the last twenty years of her life, she was the companion ofGaston Ferdière. She died inFontainebleau on 24 April 1984.[3]
Graverol was closely linked to the development of surrealism in Belgium. She would progressively consider her canvases to be "waking, conscious dreams". Her encounters after the war withRené Magritte,Louis Scutenaire,Paul Nougé, and thenMarcel Mariën, with whom she collaborated on the periodicalLes Lèvres nues [fr][1], merely reconfirmed her in her beliefs. Her paintingLa Goutte d'eau is a collective portrait of the Belgian surrealists.[4] She offered an original, dreamy version offeminine sensibility in painting, served by a figurative technique that was both precise and cold.[5]
In 2018, Graverol was mentioned in a short documentary ofGloria Feman Orenstein byCheri Gaulke,Gloria's Call.[6]
