(Boulogne-sur-Mer 1921–2012 Paris)
Ammomum, 1978, titled, signed and dated and dedicated on the stretcher: pour André Théry en souvenir amical de Mathieu, acrylic on canvas, 62 x 74 cm, framed

This work is registered in the Comité Georges Mathieu under the no. GM 70030 and it is accompanied by a photo certificate of authenticity issued by Mr. Edouard Lombard, director of the Comité Georges Mathieu, dated 7 October 2018.

This work is referenced among the authentic works of the " Archives by Jean-Marie Cusinberche on Georges Mathieu".

Provenance :
André Théry Collection
Sale Pays de Faïence, Montauroux, 29 September 2018, lot 50
Private Collection, France

Exhibited:
New York, Wildenstein Gallery, Georges Mathieu, Recent Works,
9 May – 1 June 1979, cat. no. 5

“Revolt, Speed, Risk, these three words are also at the heart of Lyrical Abstraction today. Isn’t this the same revolt against established rules, the same taste for risk in all its forms, the same passion for speed and violent intensity, the same scorn of the absence of originality and grandeur, the same spontaneous surge of energy that is both confident and generous? Yes, because today, what is a painting? It is the most direct expression of a dissatisfaction and an ambition. Painting is an ambition, it is no longer an act.

The canvas is whipped, jostled around, hacked open; the color spurts, bursts, pierces, flits around, rises, and crushes. The artisanal, the finite, the polished forms of the Greek ideals are all dead. Tension, density, the unknown, the mysterious reign and succeed on all counts. For the first time in history, painting has been able to become a spectacle, and you can witness its creation, just like you would a jam session.”
Georges Mathieu

Georges Mathieu was one of the leading exponents of French Informel. His non representational, impulsive paintings, which he himself described as “lyrical abstraction”, are distinguished by vigorous, rapid brushwork, calligraphic lines, and the artist’s method of squeezing paint directly from the tube onto the canvas without using a paintbrush. Immediacy and the act of creation were particularly important to Mathieu, a fact demonstrated not least by his frequent staging of “Happening-esque”, live painting performances from 1954 onwards.

The present painting showcases the mature sensibility and meticulous precision with which Mathieu’s work of 1978 revisits the formal, gestural vocabulary he developed in the 1950s.

Captivating in its dense composition, it strikes a dynamic balance between the centrifugal forces of its colour explosions and the painting’s overall horizontal layout. The title Amomum is the name of a plant with numerous pharmaceutical applications and anti-inflammatory virtues: Amomum is a genus of the Zingiberaceae family, which includes about 300 species and grows especially in the subtropical evergreen forests of Yunnan (in southwest China).

In this painting, the artist uses an abstract, contrasting palette of dark black, grey-green and luminous red and yellow tones, against a golden-beige background – an expression of the soothing and invigorating qualities of Amomum. A brilliant example of lyrical abstraction.