Lyric abstraction

The Lyric abstraction is an artistic movement born with Paris after the Second world war.

At that time, France sought to rebuild its identity devastated by the Occupation and the Collaboration. Some critic art seized a new current abstracted to try to regild the artistic blazon of Paris, which had occupied the row of capital of arts to the war. One could indeed attend at the exit of the latter in a fight between Paris and the new school of American painting based New York (Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning…).

He is opposed not only to the movements surrealist cubist and which precedes it but still with the Geometric abstraction (or " froide" abstraction;). They are to some extent the first to apply the lessons of Kandinsky, considered as one of the fathers of the abstraction. A criticism of the time tended to show that the geometric abstraction did not have large thing of abstract in the sense that it exposed known and recognized geometrical figures, a square, a line… The lyric abstraction was thus lived like this opening to the personal expression of the artist.

Many exposures took place in Paris of the post-war period, Drouin gallery for example where one could see Jean Moal, Gustave Singier and Alfred Manessier in 1946, Roger Bissière in 1947, Wols as of 1945… or the Conti gallery with Pierre Soulages or Gerard Schneider. A wind blew on the capital and, feeling it to arrive, this uncommon character which is Georges Mathieu decided to organize two exposures: imaginary the with the palate of Luxembourg in 1947, with Camille Bryen - well-known figure of Saint-Germain-of-Meadows, franc-tireur of surrealism, dadaïste solitary, poet, draftsman, engraver and painter - then “HWPSMTB” (Hans Hartung, Wols, Francis Picabia, François Stahly, Georges Mathieu, Michel Tapié, Camille Bryen) in 1948. The purpose of it was to impose its term of lyric abstraction which was to appear instead of imaginary the besides. Then in March 1951 came the great exposure " Vehemences confrontées" at Nina Dausset where is presented for the first time dimensions beside the French artists and abstract American. This demonstration was organized by Michel Tapié, whose role of defender of the movement is moreover high importance. With these events, he declared triumphantly that " the lyric abstraction was née". It was however a rather short reign (end 1957), which was quickly supplanted by the Nouveau realism of Pierre Restany and Yves Klein.

The other most famous members are Jean Bazaine, Roger Bissière, Olivier Debré, Maurice Estève, Jean Fautrier, Pierre Fichet, Oscar Gauthier, Elvire Jan, Serge Poliakoff, Nicolas de Staël, Zao Wou-Ki…

An exposure entitled the lyrical flight, Paris 1945-1956 , gathering works of 60 painters, is presented to Paris to the Museum of Luxembourg (Sénat) in 2006.

Selective bibliography

Sylvain Lecombre, To live a painting without tradition , in Paris-Paris , Center Pompidou, Paris.
Lyrical flight, Paris 1945-1956 , texts of Patrick-Gilles Persin, Michel Ragon and Pierre Descargues, Museum of Luxembourg, Paris and Skira, Milan, 2006,280 p. (ISBN 8876246797).

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