Lugano
Georges Mathieu was born in 1921 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. After studying philosophy and literature, he turned to painting, beginning with portraits and realist works. From 1944 onward, however, he gradually moved away from figuration, experimenting with freer, more expressive forms that would come to define his celebrated “lyrical abstractions.”
His work is closely associated with French Tachisme, a painting style that emerged in postwar Paris during the 1940s and 1950s. Often considered the European counterpart to American Abstract Expressionism, Tachisme emphasized spontaneity, gesture, and emotional intensity, privileging instinct and the physical act of painting over deliberate composition.
Mathieu’s practice was part of the broader Art Informel movement, which in France represented an instinctive and personal response to traditional figurative art. Deeply influenced by action painting in the United States, Mathieu actively promoted a transatlantic exchange of ideas. He was among the first to introduce Jackson Pollock’s work to European audiences, organizing important exhibitions of Abstract Expressionism and Art Informel from the late 1940s onward.
In the mid-1950s, Mathieu began staging live painting performances, creating large-scale canvases in front of thousands of spectators. These theatrical events blurred the line between painting and performance, further reinforcing his role as a pioneer of action-based art. His dynamic compositions, often compared to Asian calligraphy, garnered wide international acclaim.
Mathieu’s works were featured in major exhibitions, including Documenta II in Kassel in 1959 and a solo retrospective at the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris in 1963. Today, his paintings are held in prominent public collections such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the MUMOK in Vienna, the Museu de Arte Moderna in Rio de Janeiro, and the Kunsthalle in Basel.
In addition to his work as a painter, performer, and curator, Georges Mathieu was also an art theorist and writer. His 1963 essay Au-delà du Tachisme remains a key text for understanding his artistic vision and creative philosophy. He passed away in 2012 in Boulogne-Billancourt, France.