Jos Leonard (Antwerp 1892 - Ixelles 1957); Belgian draftsman, graphic artist and book designer. Leonard was one of the first abstract artists in Belgium and from 1912 he worked in various styles such as Art Nouveau, futurism, cubism, the strict geometric style of De Stijl and incorporated this into a remarkable oeuvre of personal semi-abstract art. Leonard was a friend of Paul van Ostaijen and associated with Jozef Peeters (Antwerp 1895-1960), the brothers Oscar and Floris Jespers and other Antwerp modernists. After a period as a pure visual artist, Leonard switched from 1925 to the graphic sector as a book, advertising and interior designer. He worked for various publishers, but seems to have worked mainly for explicit 'Flemish-minded' publishers, such as the Excelsior publisher from Excelsior of Achiel Geerardyn and the publishers Wiek Op and Zeemeeuw from Martha Vandewalle.... [Google translation of text at https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos_Leonard] Painter, engraver, illustrator, decorator. Jos Léonard was open to various influences ranging from cubism to futurism prior to, in 1918, coming into contact with the Antwerp avant-garde, where together with Jozef Peeters and others he founded the Kring Modern Kunst. In 1919 he took part in the group's first exhibition, and shows his first abstract works the following year. He also contributed to the review Het overzicht, and participated at the international exhibition of the second Kongres voor Moderne Kunst in Antwerpen in 1920. In 1925 he started a career in advertising illustration, a discipline he later taught at Antwerp's Vocational School for Applied Arts. [http://www.ronnyvandevelde.com/Leonard-Jos-DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=45&tabindex=44&artistid=157407] undefined

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