Pierre Soulages
(1919-2022)
The master of black who illuminates
“Black is the brightest color, when you give it the chance to be.”
Why is it fascinating?
He reinvented black, he made it a light. For him, black is not an absence but an intense light, a material, a vibration.
From 1979, he even invented a word, Outrenoir, to designate this color-light which changes according to the angle of view, the place.
In the 1940s and 1950s, he was already applying his broad brushes to the canvas with a completely radical approach. No subject, no figure, no setting. Just gesture and material. The canvas becomes a dynamic and living space.
A very contemporary work
Minimalist and powerful, his works speak to the era of pure design and quiet luxury.
Black, thick, striated, polished, scratched, they invite contemplation. Soulages doesn't want us to understand them, but to feel them: they are physical, monumental, hypnotic.
It is silence that vibrates.
Why is it presented here?
Because Soulages maintains a young, raw, authentic radicalism.
Because Soulages is the biggest name in the French contemporary art market. Alongside Rothko, Newman, and Franz Kline, he is one of the pioneers of modern abstraction.
Because he was the first artist to be exhibited at the Louvre during his lifetime (in 2019 for his 100th birthday).
Because in addition to his paintings, Soulages has a deep interest in the creation of multiples – etchings, lithographs, serigraphs – which make up an entire section of his production.
Where to see it?
- Soulages Museum, Rodez
- Pompidou Center, Paris
- Fabre Museum, Montpellier
- Louvre (2019 exhibition)
- MoMA, New York
- Guggenheim, New York
- Tate Modern, London