A Life in Color and Connection
Mayou Iserentant was a Belgian painter born in Liège. The granddaughter of the Belgian sculptor Jules Halkin, she received her training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Liège. Her career saw her participate in various movements, including animism. In 1922, she moved to Brussels, where she became a member of the Académie brabançonne, a group of artists founded in 1932 that later merged with the L'Art libre movement. During her time in Brussels, she maintained a friendship with the Belgian artist Paul Delvaux and held her first solo exhibition in 1930 at the Galerie Manteau.
In 1938, she settled in Paris, establishing an atelier and forming close ties with numerous artists and writers, such as Marie Laurencin, Marcel Jouhandeau, Jean Bazaine, Julien Green, Raymond Mason, Joseph Plaskett, Maria Elena Vieira da Silva, Marcel Gromaire, Jean Le Moal, Thanos Tsingos, Lou Albert-Lasard, Léon Spilliaert, Ferdinand Schirren, and Olivier Picard. In 1946, she and her husband acquired a house in Vaux-le-Pénil, south of Paris, where she spent every summer until her death.
Exhibitions and Legacy
Throughout her career, Iserentant exhibited in numerous galleries across Europe, particularly in France and Belgium, with notable exhibitions in England and Yugoslavia. Her work has been featured in various international settings, including:
Her artistic output included illustrations, such as her 1945 work for Julien Green's Le voyageur sur la terre. Her paintings and drawings are held in various collections and museums, including those in Antwerp, Brussels, Liège, Tournai, Belgrade, Montpellier, and Paris, as well as private collections in Ghent, London, and New York.
