// POST-WAR YEARS

Two main 20th-century trends in abstract art are represented in the collection: geometric abstraction and lyrical inspiration.

Geometric abstraction was one of the dominant movements during the post-war years, championed especially by Auguste Herbin, and made its mark with the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles (1946–55). The works by Frank Kupka and Alberto Magnelli presented in the museum exemplify this artistic current and the structural rigour of its style.

In opposition to geometric abstraction, another group of artists developed a counterpart to American Abstract Expressionism called Art Informel, characterised by a rejection of structure and embracing spontaneity. Wols and Georges Mathieu initiated explorations in this area but Hans Hartung and Pierre Soulages also made decisive contributions to furthering this movement. The defenders of gestural abstraction (Hantaï, Loubchansky, Bazaine and Bryen among others) were in stark opposition to the camp espousing geometric abstraction. They tend to favour a more organic style of abstract painting with a focus on the physical involvement of the painter.

Other approaches to abstraction have resulted in works that are completely personal in inspiration. The paintings of Bram van Velde, comprised of triangular and circular forms, shattered pieces and flat tints, seem to cast off all references, “an endless unveiling” admired by Samuel Beckett. Serge Poliakoff, a Russian-born artist who became a French citizen in 1962, is among the leading figures in post-war abstract art, but his work may not easily be compared to that of any other artist. Influenced by the cubism of Piet Mondrian, he favours the systematic arrangement of bright complementary colours, resulting in linear compositions of coloured geometric blocks. His Mural Composition (1967) is nothing less than a wall of paint which can be seen as a present-day rendition of a polyptych.

Illustrating the persistence of the figurative style during this same period, the Bust of a Seated Woman (1960), Painter at Work (1964) and Man’s Head in a Straw Hat (1971) by Pablo Picasso exemplify the final phase in the work of the painter whose influence permeated the entire 20th century. During this last stage of his career, the painter voluntarily adopted a slipshod and spontaneous style, paving the way for the brutal aesthetics of Neo-Expressionism or “Bad Painting”.  He embraced complete freedom in his painting through schematic and abbreviated forms expressed using elementary graphic symbols. Espousing “Figuration Libre” before its day, his painting during this period pulsates with life in a purely abstract way, rich in content but entirely self-sufficient. All the vitality of this painter in his advanced years is condensed within an artistic projectile, exuberant and colourful when jettisoned on the canvas, marking a return to the childhood of art.