3440 - GEORGES MATHIEU

GEORGES MATHIEU (Boulogne-sur-Mer 1921–2012 Paris) Saint Denis. 1965. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right: Mathieu 65, as well as titled and dated on the stretcher: "SAINT DENIS" 1964. 162 × 97 cm. Certificate: Archives Jean-Marie Cusinberche sur Georges Mathieu, Paris, 2 October 2026. Provenance: - Auction Briest, Paris, 24.6.1994, lot 10. - Private collection, Switzerland. After initially pursuing an education in the humanities, Georges Mathieu turned to painting in the 1940s and developed an independent visual language based on spontaneity, speed and gestural expression. A leading representative of Tachisme and lyrical abstraction, he understood painting as an immediate creative act in which lines, signs and colours express inner energy. His calligraphic compositions demonstrate a keen sense of rhythm and pictorial structure. The oil painting ‘Saint Denis’, created in 1965, presents a delicate, vertically oriented composition against a white ground. At its centre, turquoise-blue, white and gold-coloured lines converge into a complex network recalling architectural structures or abstract writing. Long, fine strokes extend into the lower part of the picture, contrasting with the concentrated forms in the upper and middle sections. The generous areas of open space lend the composition lightness, making the individual marks appear almost weightless. The alternation between impasto application and fine lines creates a tension between the materiality of paint and the lightness of drawing. Despite its spontaneity, the composition follows a clear internal order. The title ‘Saint Denis’ refers to Saint Dionysius of Paris, opening up a historical and possibly religious association. No specific religious representation, however, can be discerned. Rather, Mathieu draws on cultural and historical associations and translates them into his abstract visual language. The work is a characteristic example of lyrical abstraction in European post-war modernism. This movement turned away from both representational art and strictly geometric pictorial concepts. Mathieu combined the freedom of the immediate painting process with a deliberate organisation of the picture surface. ‘Saint Denis’ demonstrates how the artist creates an expressive composition while leaving room for different associations.