MUSÉE DES BEAUX-ARTS DE LYON, LYON (FR) 18 May 2017 - 28 August 2017
Édouard Pignon, Ostende, 1946-1953
Between the dreamy beauty of the port landscape and the tragic climate of a city destroyed by war, Édouard Pignon invented a new space and a new reality for painting
Curators : Philippe Bouchet with the participation of Sylvie Ramond
In the immediate post-war period, the artist, coming from the New School in Paris, chose a form of free, independent figuration, and inaugurated a kind of personal experimentation that allowed him to stand out from the movements in which he was interested. He distanced himself from the Parisian art scene and the concept of ‘Total Abstraction’ that dominated the milieu. He settled for a few months in Ostend (Belgium) from November 1946 onwards, motivated by a desire to renew his painting.
Seduced by the ‘delicate atmosphere’ of the port, the ‘rustling of forms’, the ‘gentle sway of light and sails’, Édouard Pignon worked alone to create a new mode of production, one which would prove crucial to the evolution of his artwork.