Joseph Probst

Joseph Probst (1911–1997) was a Luxembourgish painter who, in 1954, was one of the founder members of the Iconomaques group of abstract painters who opposed figurative art.

Early life and education

Probst was born on 18 November 1911 in Vianden in the north of Luxembourg. After a classical education in Luxembourg from 1924 to 1931, he spent a year studying art at the Ecole des Artisans in Luxembourg City. He then went to Brussels where he attended the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts before completing his studies at the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs in 1940.

Career

After the Second World War, Probst began to work as an artist under the influence of Expressionism. Initially he concentrated on portraits of nudes and, especially mother-and-child paintings, but moved ever closer to abstract art under the influence of Michel Stoffel and Lucien Wercollier with whom he became one of the founding members of the Nouvelle Equipe. In later life, Probst returned to figurative painting which can be seen in his 1994 and 1995 exhibits.