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During Amid the turbulent era following the first world war, as artistic innovation flourished, commentators found fascination with the pseudonymous contemporary artist Tour Donas. “One finds a kind of charm in Donas’s art that we are not accustomed to his contemporaries,” noted a critic, “a sense of gentle timidity suggesting a woman’s touch.” These pieces, was in fact, created by Marthe Donas, that is Marthe Donas, a Belgian who had taken a non-gendered alias to get on in a field largely controlled by males.

As Tour Donas, she experienced a short yet brilliant period, prior to fading from view. Currently, Antwerp presents a major exhibition positioning her alongside modernist masters, together with Piet Mondrian as well as prominent figures. The display, starting this weekend at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts (KMSKA), features 55 of her works, from cubist paintings in warm colours, glimmering fabric motifs, plus minimalist forms.

Abstract expression goes hand in hand with elegance,” the curator commented. We see a true quest for novelty, for change … alongside that is a powerful yearning, a hunger for traditional aesthetics.”

Differing from provocative modernists, the association avoided extremism, stated by the art historian. Among the highlights in the exhibition is titled The Dance, painted by the artist in 1918-19. The work was thought vanished, until found in Japan in preparation for the current show.

Formative Years and Obstacles

Marthe Donas entered life in 1885 into an affluent francophone household in the city. An ancestor was a realist artist, but Donas’s father did not support a career in art; he removed her from training early on after a month.

Later on, Donas enrolled again, committed to her craft, post-accident. She fell off a roof hoping to view the monarch, who was visiting Antwerp, smashing through a glass ceiling during the fall. Her training were halted by the German invasion of 1914. While her family fled across the border, Marthe went to Dublin, where she enrolled in art school mastering the craft of stained glass. After a spell in Paris, which was pivotal for her art, but drained her savings, she relocated south as a drawing instructor to an affluent patron.

Creative Evolution and Partnership

She encountered Archipenko during 1917 in Nice. The pair soon clicked. He described her as “his top pupil” and began to promote her art. She produced paintings with unique contours, works that shunned standard rectangular frames in favor of distinctive forms emphasizing their cubist distortions.

Although contemporary shaped art are often attributed to another European creator, historians contend Donas was the first of her generation to pioneer this innovative approach.

However, her input was ignored. Then, modernist movements were dominated by men; excessively rational, too rational, for female artists.

Appreciation and Influence

Over a hundred years later, her work is receiving attention. The museum, freshly restored, seeks to feature female artists within its holdings. Before the revamp, the museum had only one from her oeuvre, infrequently shown.

This event mirrors an expanding trend to recover long-neglected female masters, like other historical figures. Other exhibitions have retrieved from dusty storerooms pieces from other pioneers from various movements.

An art historian has spent two decades working to promote Donas, appreciating “the elegance, the palette, the originality and the aesthetic” of her work. A contributor for the show questions the dismissive treatment by her peers. Contrary to belief, she wasn’t “a young pupil” during their collaboration, rather a mature creator in her own right.

Later Years and Lasting Influence

The connection they shared had ended by mid-1921. She wed and relocated to rural Belgium; Archipenko emigrated to America. Then Donas dropped off the artistic map for a long period from the late 1920s, after she unexpectedly became a mother in mid-life. Decades later, she minimized his influence, claiming she had only spent “a short time at the sculptor’s studio”.

This presentation displays a stronger creative spark. Concluding with two artworks: a composition by Donas seemingly influenced by his sculpture she kept after the break-up. The bright hues and lines of the two works work together, but experts note “she created independently, she didn’t imitate”.

• This collection showcasing modernist charm is at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts closing in January 2026.