Painting, 222 x 157 cm, August 24, 1979

Pierre Soulages

1979

Gift of the Louise and Bernard Lamarre family, inv. 2006.115

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

This is an abstract painting dominated by thick, horizontal brushstrokes in varying shades of black. A dark band runs across the top of the canvas, and a diagonal line divides the lower portion. This is an abstract painting dominated by thick, horizontal brushstrokes in varying shades of black. A dark band runs across the top of the canvas, and a diagonal line divides the lower portion. The abstract painter Pierre Soulages made it a habit to title his works with only their dimensions and date of completion. He also insists that they not be framed, but simply be mounted on stretchers, which he often makes himself. The broad swaths of paint he brushes over the canvas enable him to combine contour, surface, colour and medium at one and the same time. According to Soulages, 1979 marked a break with his previous practice through