Pierre Soulages

Alternate Titles

• Puissance créatrice

Description

Pierre Soulages, born December 24, 1919 in Rodez (Aveyron), lives and works between Paris and Sète (Hérault). A major figure in the abstract, it is recognized as one of the greatest painters of the current French scene for his work running through the second half of the XX th and beginning of the XXI thcentury. "Soulages chooses very young color that carries all the others: black. He remains very attached to it, so that it participates in his artistic identity. Major in its art, it declines, according to the tools with which it is applied, on smooth or rough surfaces, which reveal a multiple and unsuspected light. "Interested in Prehistory and Romanesque art," Soulages develops its creation outside of any stylistic group, according to a solitary and free approach ". (Excerpts from Camille Morando, Soulages , Paris, Center Pompidou editions, 2015)

Description

Pierre Soulages has gained international recognition as a prominent figure of both art informel, which arose in France during World War II, and abstract expressionism, its American counterpart. From the 1940s to the 1970s, black progressively conquered the surface of Soulages's calligraphic abstract paintings, which also incorporated subtle hints of color (mainly ocher and blue). His aesthetics radically shifted toward monochrome in 1979, when he initiated his lifelong series Outrenoir. He has been known as "the painter of black and light" ever since. Literally translating as "beyond black," Outrenoir opens onto a new realm that transcends purely gestural and monochromatic abstraction. Systematically applied in thick layers on canvas, black paint is meticulously scraped, striated, and overall sculpted to create smooth or rough areas that reflect light in various ways. By masterfully turning black into a luminous color, Soulages powerfully evokes the genesis of the world, which came out of darkness.00Exhibition: Museée départemental Lympia, Nice, France (23.01.-19.04.2020).

Subjects

Other Editions

• Pierre Soulages: la puissance créatriceSnoeck2020-01-01
• Pierre Soulages1960-01-01
• Pierre SoulagesGimpel & Hanover Galerie1967-01-01
• Pierre SoulagesGalerie deFrance1992-01-01
• Célébration de la lumière.Skira1999-01-01
• Kunst der Gegenwart (Klosterneuburg, Austria)Edition Sammlung Essl2006-01-01