Contacted in 1996 by the Leunens family, members from Artmetal, an international group of metal artists based in Washington, were impressed by the works of Guillaume Leunens. Without the use of soldering or repoussé techniques, Artmetal members wonder how Leunens applied metal on aluminum. The president then invited the family to exhibit Leunens’ works at the groups Washington convention which was taking place a few months later. In the meantime, members gave their ideas on Guillaume Leunens’ technique. Dr. Mark Parmenter, a metallurgy Engineer to the NASA, advanced that he would find the technique in 15 minutes if he could see and touch some works. The family therefore brings 6 works to the convention and after three days, no hypothesis was issued.
Later, Artmetal members continue experiences on their own to try to reproduce the same technique. After two years of research, they had still not found the technique of Guillaume Leunens. The General hypothesis suggests that he learned his technique during his imprisonment in the German work camps during the Second World War. Probably an old technique that is lost after the death of Leunens.
Read the discussion on this research emails at the following address: http://www.artmetal.com/project/Features/Leunens/index.html
