Art Informel

Description

Informalism or Art Informel (French pronunciation: [aʁ ɛ̃fɔʁmɛl]) is a pictorial movement from the 1943–1950s, that includes all the abstract and gestural tendencies that developed in France and the rest of Europe during World War II, similar to American abstract expressionism. Several distinguishing trends are identified within the movement such as lyrical abstraction, matter painting, New Paris School, tachisme and art brut. The French art critic Michel Tapié coined the term "art autre" (other art) in the homonymous book published in 1952 in relation to non-geometric abstract art. It was instrumental in improving the concept of abstract art in France during the early 1950s. Its use in the expression of political ideologies in South America during the early 1950s was quite common, as it was seen as the main way to show support for the changing political climate. Read more ↗

Key Artists

Alberto Burri
Leading Italian Matter Painter associated with Art Informel who utilized stitched burlap sacks, scorched plastic, and charred wood to convey postwar existential trauma.
Jean Dubuffet
Key French pioneer whose celebration of unblemished materiality and rough, thick impasto (Haute Pâte) became a foundational pillar of Art Informel aesthetics.
Jean Fautrier
Early precursor and central figure of Art Informel whose thick, scarred plaster-and-oil works ('Otages' series) embodied the physical violence of World War II.
Karel Appel
Co-founder of the CoBrA group whose spontaneous, child-like yet ferocious application of vibrant paint aligned closely with the anti-formalist ethos of Art Informel.
Asger Jorn
Danish painter and CoBrA co-founder whose gestural, mythological abstractions and rejection of classical composition championed the improvisatory spirit of Art Informel.
Georges Mathieu
Leading French theorist and artist of Art Informel who pioneered rapid, performative abstraction using squeezed tubes of paint applied directly onto the canvas.

Famous Artworks

Sacco e rosso (Sacking and Red)
Alberto Burri · 1954
Tate Modern, London - Burlap, acrylic, and oil on canvas
Tête d'otage (Head of a Hostage)
Jean Fautrier · 1944
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York - Oil and pigment on paper mounted on canvas
Grand Jazz Band (New Orleans)
Jean Dubuffet · 1944
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York - Oil on canvas
People, Birds and Sun
Karel Appel · 1954
Tate Modern, London - Oil on canvas
The Letter
Asger Jorn · 1956
Collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) - Oil on canvas

Fun Facts

The term 'Art Informel' was coined by French art critic and curator Michel Tapié in his seminal 1952 book and exhibition 'Un Art Autre' (Art of Another Kind), which sought a complete rupture with pre-war geometric abstraction.
↗ Source: tate.org.uk
Art Informel was not a cohesive club with a single manifesto, but an umbrella term encompassing Tachisme, CoBrA, Matter Painting, and Lyrical Abstraction across postwar Europe.
↗ Source: britannica.com

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