Ohne Titel. 1952.
Etching in colours and aquatint.
Gatto 1. Signed and inscribed "HC". Copy aside from the edition. On wove paper by Arches (with watermark). 49,5 : 33,4 cm (19,4 : 13,1 in). Sheet: 66 x 50 cm (25,9 x 19,6 in). Born in Rodez in southern France in 1919, Pierre Soulages went to Paris at eighteen, where he frequented museums and became fascinated with the work of Pablo Picasso and Paul Cézanne. From 1941 until 1946 Soulages attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Montpellier. There he also met the abstract artist Sonia Delaunay. In 1946 Soulages moved to Paris and had a studio in Courbevoie near Paris. The artists he was in contact with included K. O. Götz, Francis Picabia, Hans Hartung and Fernand Léger. Soulages first made his pictures known to a broader public by showing them at the 1947 Salon des Surindépendants, thus making them known to a broader public. In 1948-49 Soulages participated in “Wanderausstellung Französischer Abstrakter Malerei”, a touring exhibition of French abstract painting that went to several German cities. From 1949 until1952 Soulages designed the sets and costumes for several theatre productions. In 1951 and again in 1953 Soulages showed work at the exhibitions mounted by the group known as “ZEN 49”. In 1957 he travelled to Mexico and the US, where he met Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell and Mark Rothko. The trip to Japan Soulages undertook in 1958 was particularly important for him. Early impressions of the austere Romanesque architecture and the prehistoric Celtic monuments of his native France along with the later influence of East Asian calligraphy are the determinants of his gestural pictures, which are nonetheless harmoniously balanced and notable for black or brown blown-up script on light coloured grounds. In later works, Soulages used broad rubber scrapers or rollers and cylindrical brushes as his painting utensils, which influenced the aesthetic effect created by his massive strokes. A leading exponent of both the École de Paris and Informel, Soulages was often represented at the documenta exhibitions during the 1950s and 1960s. The first large retrospective of Pierre Soulages’ work was shown in 1960-61 in Hannover, Essen and The Hague. Soulages subsequently received numerous international art awards, including the Rembrandt Prize in Germany in 1976 and the Grand Prix National for painting in Paris in 1987. His design for a monumental tapestry for the Ministry of Finance in Paris also dates from 1987. In 1994 Soulages was awarded the Praemium Imperiale for painting in Japan. The one hundred and four stained glass windows Soulages began designing in 1987 had all been made by 1994. Pierre Soulages lives and works in Sète and Paris.

Printed and published by Atelier Roger Lacourière, Paris 1952 (with blindstamp). [NB]
Good overall impression. Minimally discoloured on the margins. Upper edge with soft brown stains, margins and image with tiny brown stains.