GEORGES MATHIEU (1921 - 2012)

Fzeya, 1965 Oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, titled on reverse 54.5 x 92 cm 21 29/64 x 36 7/32 in. Georges Mathieu Georges Mathieu was born on January 27, 1921 in Boulogne-sur-Mer and died on June 10, 2012 in Boulogne-Billancourt. Originating from a family of bankers, he first studied law, which he abandoned in 1942 to devote himself to an artistic career. After the Second World War, Europe is rebuilding. Visual art was undergoing a major transformation. In 1947, the art critic Jean José Marchand defined the paintings of Georges Mathieu by evoking for the first time the notion of “lyrical abstraction”. Indeed, the artist contrasts with the geometric abstraction, he liberates himself from the restrictions and traditional habits. The great speed of his gestural painting translates into a strong emotion, in the absence of an exact portrayal of reality. The forms are clear and precise. This 1965 painting is typical of Georges Mathieu's style. As a lover of Japan and the art of calligraphy, he incorporates this aesthetic into his work. Alternating between long brush strokes and faster ones, on a plain brown background, the composition is as harmonious as it is lively. The colors blend elegantly, while the layers of paint overlap, opposing the flatness of the background to the thickness of of the clumped area. The strokes clash in a colored ballet, barring the composition, counterbalanced by a single curve that comes to pacify these power relations. The balance of the canvas is ensured by the few colored spots, isolated, punctuating the composition. Opposed to the movement induced by the lines, these spots fix the composition on the canvas, giving it an anchor, a materiality.