Georges MATHIEU - Symbols, original signed lithograph, 1962

Georges Mathieu : (1921- 2012) was a French abstract painter, art theorist and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He is considered one of the fathers of European lyrical abstraction, a trend of formalism. He founded the first artistic group L’Imaginaire with Wols, Jean-Michel Atlan, Hartung, Bryen, Riopelle and exposes with fourteen painters at the Galerie du Luxembourg on December 16th 1947. The exhibition was called Towards Lyrical Abstraction, but the title was later changed because of the presence of works of Pablo Picasso and Jean Arp. In 1948, he put in place the first confrontation between American and French avant-garde painters : on this occasion he revealed the importance of the American abstraction of Jackson Pollock and Alton Tobey to the French audience.