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Georges Mathieu retrospective showcases calligraphic lyricism
Print Edition
The first retrospective exhibition of Georges Mathieu (1921-2012) in China is showing at Long Museum (West Bund) in Shanghai through October 27.
Mathieu was a key figure in the New School of Paris and the founder of lyrical abstraction.
The exhibition displays the French artist’s works created over four decades, offering a unique opportunity for viewers to explore Mathieu’s prolific body of work and its vigorous and exhilarating celebration of gesture.
Combining violence and virtuosity, his paintings are instantly recognizable for their calligraphic lyricism and exceptional precision. Despite the speed and spontaneity with which they are executed, every stroke is purposeful.
Mathieu grew up in various towns in northern France and Versailles, and studied English at the University of Lille. He began experimenting with painting at the age of 21 after studying languages, literature, law and philosophy at institutions in France.
Mathieu played a decisive role within abstraction during the movement’s burgeoning in the late 1940s and early 1950s across Europe and the United States. Departing from the geometric abstractions that had dominated the previous era, he developed a visual language that favored form over content and gesture over intent, aiming for uninhibited creative expression. He termed this newfound esthetic “lyrical abstraction.”
Mathieu’s works are characterized by a calligraphic quality of line, achieved by using long brushes and applying paint directly from tubes onto the canvas. The immediacy and rapid execution of these methods ensured the freedom that defined his work.
For Mathieu, painting was rhythm, akin to musical improvisation. Some of his paintings from the 1950s and 1960s juxtaposed carnal opulence with radical minimalism, a visual language of Zen-like purity.
Based on contrasting harmonies of red, white and black, works such as “Hommage to Louis IX” (1957), on display at the Long Museum, reveal Mathieu’s early interest in Far Eastern calligraphy.
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