IMAGE DETAILS

Galerie Berès

Jean Degottex (Sathonay-Camp 1918-1988 Paris)
IMPA-VIDE (II), 1959
Oil on canvas
199 x 130 cm
Signed lower right ‘Degottex’; signed, titled and dated on the back: Degottex IMPA-VIDE (II) 1959
This work will be included in the catalogue raisonné of Jean Degottex
Inclusion certificate n°2023-34 issued by Comité Jean Degottex dated 21 November 2023
Provenance: private collection
Exhibitions: Les Alliances, Les Dix-huit vides, Galerie internationale d'Art contemporain, séquences sonores de Pierre Henry, Paris, 26 November-31 December 1959

Jean Degottex was born in Sathonay-Camp on 25 February 1918 and died in Paris on 6 December 1988. Degottex was a French abstract painter, best known for his initial proximity to the lyrical abstraction movement of the 1950s and 1960s. In his own words, his work gradually moved from gesture and sign to writing, and then from writing to line. Considered a major artist of abstraction in the second half of the 20th century, he drew inspiration from Far Eastern calligraphy and Zen philosophy to achieve the obliteration of the creative subject.

In 1958, he joined the Galerie internationale d'art contemporain, directed by Maurice d'Arquian. There he rubbed shoulders with Pierre Henry, Yves Klein and Maurice Béjart. He became better known abroad, particularly in Belgium, Switzerland, Italy and Germany.

The period from 1956 to 1963 was particularly productive. He worked in series/suites: suite Ashkénazi (1957), suite Serto (March-April, November 1957), suite des Hagakure (November 1957), les 18 Vides (1959), suite des Roses (1960), suite des Alliances (1960), les 7 Métasignes (1961), Jshet (1962). Many of his works were then entitled Écriture, Suite Écriture.

EXHIBITION Les Alliances, Les Dix-huit vides, Galerie internationale d'Art contemporain, sound sequences by Pierre Henry, Paris, 26 November-31 December 1959

Jean Degottex joined Maurice d'Arquian's Galerie Internationale d'Art Contemporain in 1958. Maurice d'Arquian was particularly keen on the confrontation between different forms of creation. He organised performances in his gallery and brought the composer Pierre Henry into contact with the painter.

In 1959, the artist exhibited Alliances, eighteen empty forms, and Pierre Henry produced sound sequences inspired by the 18 empty spaces on display. The music will be played throughout the exhibition.

The title ‘IMPA-Vide’ (II) corresponds to the eighteen forms of emptiness listed in the Mahâ-prajnâpâramitâ (The Treatise on the Great Virtue of Wisdom).