Geneviève Claisse (1935) and Herbin

I always wondered why the works by Geneviève Claisse looked so familiar and were at the same time original and authentic. After reading some parts of her biography i found out that she is related to Auguste Herbin and that shows. Her use of form is somehow different from Herbin’s, because Geneviève Claisse is a fierce supporter of the rounded shapes where as Herbin uses Geometrical ones. At the same time the use of color and contrast is with both almost the same. Geneviève Claisse is represented by, galerie Denise Rene, one of the best galleries in the world, which also made some great catalogues which are available at www.ftn-books.com

A relative to Auguste Herbin, born in the same place, her painting vocation was born through reading the magazine Art d’aujourd’hui, tribune of geometrical abstraction.

Claisse is the great niece of abstract painter Auguste Herbin, a founder of the Parisian association of artists Abstraction-Création. Herbin saw Claisse’s work for the first time when she was eighteen years old, and encouraged her to continue painting. In Herbin’s mind, Claisse was “le successeur désigné par le destin et par l’hérédité” (“the successor appointed by destiny and heredity”). Like Herbin, Claisse’s work shows a devotion to the ideals of formal purity and the perfection of execution. At this young age she worked tirelessly, often working at night after a day in the studio, carefully painting abstract forms on bold, colorful canvases.