Georges Mathieu was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, in 1921. An autodidactic artist and theorist, he embarked on his creative journey in 1942. He traversed the globe, creating masterpieces in Japan, the USA, Brazil, Argentina, and the Middle East, but predominantly lived and produced his opuses in the Parisian region of France, where he passed away in 2012.
Credited with spearheading the Lyrical Abstraction movement and the larger trend of Informalism in post-World War II Paris, Georges Mathieu pioneered a style of gestural abstraction that verged on performance art. A renowned provocateur, he dazzled audiences with his energetic approach, prioritizing speed, rejecting references, and entering a state of ecstasy while creating. Often working in front of cameras, his pieces were exhibited around the world, with his large-scale compositions achieved through the use of long brushes and direct application of paint from tubes onto the canvas. The immediacy and rapid execution of these techniques empowered him to freely express his vision. He brought a newfound liberty to the creative act and gave rise to a fresh style, a unique blend of esoteric symbols, calligraphy, and raw vigor. The titles of his pieces, infused with historical, musical, and geographical allusions, add a sophisticated yet unconventional poetic quality.
Mathieu’s work has been the subject of numerous retrospectives and can be found in over eighty museums and permanent public collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago; Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; Kunstmuseum Basel; Kunsthaus Zürich; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; and the Tate, London.
www.ftn-books.com has several Mathieu titles now available.
