Abstract Painter Georges Mathieu Dies at 91
French artist Georges Mathieu died in Paris on June 10 at the age of 91. Georges Mathieu was a complete artist: writer, architect, author of Désormais seul en face de Dieu (1998), graphic designer, painter and inventor of a genuine and independent pictorial language orientated in opposition to geometrical abstraction. He wanted his work to be one of speed, in order not to be overshadowed by doubts. He fought for an art liberated from the classic boundaries that he called “lyrical abstraction." There have been over a hundred exhibitions dedicated to the artist. Georges Mathieu never had any art education. In 1947 he was working for American Express in Paris, France and rented a chambre de bonne near the Palais Luxembourg. There he executed a number of large canvases with a black background on which he painted colored scrolls, whorls and other shapes. He subsequently refined his technique, using a white background on which he painted simple geometrical forms, most often a single line in color.