Painting Buveuse de Rancio (1947) by the Belgian painter Serge Creuz.
This expressive oil painting, Buveuse de Rancio by Belgian artist Serge Creuz, depicts a female figure in a reduced, cubist style. On the set table are a baguette, a knife, grapes, and a bottle of rancio—a traditional southern wine from the region. The serene composition combines geometric clarity with emotional distance, typical of postwar modernism.
The location "Argelès (Po)" in Serge Creuz's painting refers to the French town of Argelès-sur-Mer in the Pyrénées-Orientales region, near the Spanish border, with "Po" being a common abbreviation for this department name.
Argelès-sur-Mer is known for its picturesque landscapes, which have inspired many artists. The sea, mountains, and Mediterranean light make the region a popular motif in art.
About the artist:
Serge Creuz (1924 - 1996)
Serge Creuz was born on May 4, 1924, in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium, and died on January 15, 1996, in Linkebeek.
He was an important Belgian painter, illustrator, and scenographer known for his diverse contributions to the art scene. He studied at the Superior Institute of Decorative Arts in La Cambre, Brussels, and began engraving and illustrating books under the direction of Joris Minne.
He worked for the Théâtre National de Belgique and the Belgian broadcaster RTBF, among others. He also founded the cultural center "La Bellone" in Brussels, which is dedicated to the documentation and archiving of theater.
Serge Creuz was most notably a member of the Jeune Peinture Belge ("Young Belgian Painting"), an influential artists' association founded in Brussels in 1945. It brought together young Belgian artists seeking new, modern forms of expression after the Second World War and is considered a pioneer of modern Belgian postwar art.
Members like Creuz shaped a distinctive Belgian modernism with expressionist, figurative, and sometimes abstract painting styles. Exhibitions in Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, and Oslo made the "Jeune Peinture Belge" internationally known.
