Reflections of Black

Pierre Soulages is known today above all for his abstract paintings, which are dominated by black areas of colour. He mixed the paint himself, the recipe a secret known only to his assistant. He had been painting in this way since 1979. way. Soulages emphasised that it was not the colour that interested him, but the reflections of light. He called his paintings Outrenoir, which can best be translated as "Behind Black". At that time, Soulages, born in 1919, was already 60 years old and looking back on an extraordinary career.

In the late 1940s and 50s, Soulages' abstract paintings were difficult to classify. They did not seem ephemeral enough for Tachism, too form-conscious for Informel, and lacked the gestural for Abstract Expressionism. Soulages' working method, like his colour formula, remained a well-kept secret. Success was not long in coming: Soulages exhibited at documenta 1, II and III (1955,1959,1964) and took part in important exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art (both in New York). To this day, his paintings are sought-after objects on the art market. Less than a year ago, his Peinture 195 x 130 cm, 4 août 1961 was auctioned for 20.2 million US dollars.

Pierre Soulages lived with his wife, the painter Colette, to whom he was married for over 79 years, in Sète in the south of France in a home and studio he designed himself. More than 1600 paintings by him have survived. There would have been considerably more if he had not regularly burned canvases that he considered insufficient. A museum dedicated to him in his hometown of Rodez has housed an impressive collection of his works since it opened in 2014. Soulages died on 25 October at the age of 102.