Georges Mathieu

Georges Mathieu was a French abstract painter, art theorist, and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He is considered one of the fathers of European lyrical abstraction, a trend of informalism. In 1946 he founded the first artistic group L’Imaginaire with Wols, Jean-Michel Atlan, Hartung, Bryen, Riopelle. The group is later expanded, with Michel Tapié, Picabia and François Stahly to form H.W.P.S.M.T.B. Restropectives of his work started as early as 1959. In the sixities, his zen period features only a few strokes on monochromatic backgrounds, illuminating the power of the sign. n 1970 Mathieu focused on the equilibrium between balance and vividness, and showed central shapes on a uniform blocks of color. From 1984 he achieved what he calls a "cosmic turning point" in his painting. His compositions did not favor a center anymore: the graphical elements multiplied on the canvas, the painting found its balance by the tension between these elements. Mathieu positions its work, and more generally lyrical abstraction, as the latest of all cyclical transitions to happen in history of art.