3 Décembre 1966
Artist
Pierre Soulages
(French, 1919 - 2022)
CultureFrench
Date1966
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 62 5/8 x 79 1/2 in. (159.1 x 201.9 cm)
InscribedSigned lower right.
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.1086
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 223
Label TextPierre Soulages French, b. 1919 3 Décembre 1966, 1966 Oil on canvas Notice how the black areas in this painting seem to darken before your eyes. French artist Pierre Soulages has spent his entire career exploring how black paint reflects light and space by creating grand strokes on canvas with a large brush. Unlike the expressive gestures of the Abstract Expressionists seen nearby, Soulages’ work evokes a sense of permanence and architectural weightiness. Inspired in part by church windows, he contrasts his black forms with slivers of light paint, suggesting the feeling of looking out toward a brilliant light from within a darkened interior. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.1086 ProvenancePierre Soulages, December 1966; M. Knoedler & Co., New York, N.Y., 1968; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., 1971; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum of Art, 1971. Exhibition History"Soulages: Paintings Since 1963," M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York, N.Y., February 6 - February 24, 1968; Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pa., March 7 - April 7, 1968; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y., May 6 - June 2, 1968. "International Moderns from the Permanent Collection," Chrysler Museum, April 24 - June 29, 1980. "Remix Redux: A Fresh Mix For Our Modern And Contemporary Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, August 15 - December 30, 2012.Published ReferencesJames Johnson Sweeney, _Soulages: Paintings Since 1963_, exh. cat., M. Knoedler & Co., New York, N.Y., 1968, 21, no. 13. "New Exhibitions," _The Chrysler Museum_ 10, no. 3 (April 1980): cover.
