“Georges Mathieu: Monumental Paintings”

A coeval of the Abstract Expressionists, Mathieu (1921–2012) isn’t well known on these shores, but he’s considered one of France’s most important abstract artists—and, indeed,was much admired by American art critic Clement Greenberg. Unlike Jackson Pollock et al., Mathieu didn't traffic in storm und drang, taking instead a lyrical approach to gestural painting that resembled calligraphy more than it did the dripping and slashing of his AbEx contemporaries. (It is remarkable how his work at times anticipates graffiti art.) He liked to work big, and these four compositions from 1978—each measuring approximately eight by 19 feet—are among his biggest, and were created specifically for the artist’s retrospective at the Grand Palais in Paris that same year.