About the artwork
A black circle stands out against a red background, with two other overlapping circles. The circle in the foreground is the same red as the background, while the circle in the background is white. Treated as solids, they participate in an interplay between full and empty, giving rhythm to the composition with suggested shades of color. Drawing on the law of simultaneous color contrast formulated by Eugène Chevreul in 1839, the artist takes advantage of contrasts with black and white to vary our perception of red. In this way, the red of the circle appears different from the background, depending on where our gaze is focused. The highly synthetic construction of this painting is at the service of these experiments, while reaffirming the artist's primacy in creation.
Expert opinion
This work represents Geneviève Claisse's optical research in the 1960s. This period is particularly important in her work, as it marked the beginning of her experiments, of which this 1967 composition is the culmination, before exploring a work of line rather than form.
About the artist
Born in Quiévy in 1935, Geneviève Claisse was a French artist who died in Dreux in 2018. She became interested in art while reading the magazine Art Aujourd'hui. She embraced the ideas of Abstraction Création formulated by Auguste Herbin, and began working in lyrical abstraction with flat tints of color. In 1964, the circle became the principal figure in her work, enabling her to focus her research on the idea of movement. In 1970, she began working on her illusions using black lines on a white background. Only later did she return to color, alternating flat and linear compositions. Her work has been exhibited extensively, notably at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Chaux-de-Fond in 1967, at the Montreal World Fair and at the Musée Matisse in Cateau-Cambrésis.
Additional info
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