Printer: Mourlot

Dimensions: 70 x 54 cm

Condition: Very good condition

Frame: Oak

Description: Jean Bazaine never accepted the description of his work as abstract. Although often associated with Lyrical Abstraction, he insisted he was painting nature, the sea, landscape and changing light to colour, rhythm and form rather than abandoning the visible world altogether.

This original lithographic poster was published for Bazaine’s 1953 exhibition at Galerie Maeght in Paris, one of the most influential galleries of the post-war period. By then, Bazaine had become one of the leading figures in the revival of modern French painting.

His reputation had been forged during the German Occupation when he helped organise and exhibit in the landmark Vingt Jeunes Peintres de Tradition Française (Twenty Young Painters of the French Tradition) in 1941. Today, the exhibition is widely regarded as an important act of cultural resistance, demonstrating that modern French art could continue to flourish despite censorship and occupation. That spirit of optimism and renewal runs through this poster, making it a fascinating record of an artist who helped shape French painting after the war.

Artist: Jean René Bazaine (1904-2001) was a French painter and writer. The great grandson of the English Court portraitist Sir George Hayter, he was born in Paris and studied sculpture with Paul Landowski before switching to painting at the École des Beaux-Art. His work was first shown in group exhibitions with Fautrier, Pougny, Goerg and Gromaire from 1930. And with the encouragement of Bonnard, held his first solo exhibition in 1932. After the Second World War, Galerie Maeght hosted his first major solo exhibition in 1949/50 with many more thereafter.