Georges MATHIEU
Ozaka, 1957
Original painting, gouache on paper
54.5 x 78.5 cm (without frame)
Georges Mathieu (1921-2012) – Pioneer of Lyrical Abstraction
Georges Mathieu, a true enfant terrible of modern art, transcended the boundaries of traditional art with his flamboyant and expressive style. By merging gestural abstraction with the spontaneity of the Automatiste movement, Mathieu created powerful and emotional works that reflected the swirling energy of his time. His paintings, executed at high speed and imbued with an unparalleled vitality, capture the passion and intensity of his emotions, offering a unique vision of abstract art.
Mathieu very quickly favoured tubism, this technique consisting of painting directly with the tube of paint on the canvas, of which he was the inventor.
With the creation of a pictorial language that was entirely his own, Mathieu achieved international fame in the 1950s, traveling around the world to bring his creations to life on site and in public in a revolutionary way: Germany, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Spain, United States, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland… Placing the work of art “at the crossroads of the object, the act and behavior”, he was the first artist to organize performances and happenings, several years ahead of Yves Klein or American artists: Hommage au Maréchal de Turenne painted in front of a photographer in 1952, The Battle of Bouvines and The Capetians everywhere! painted in front of a camera in 1954, many large-format canvases painted in the street, as a precursor to urban art, the best example being The Battle of Hastings created incognito in 1956 in a London street in front of surprised passers-by.
>> In 1957 he made his famous trip to Japan, where the artists of the Gutai group - whose manifesto stated in December 1956 that they had "the greatest respect for Pollock and Mathieu because their works reveal the screaming of the material, the cries of pigments and varnishes" - received him warmly.
