Marie Raymond (1908-1988) "composition" Gouache Signed Lower Right Abstract Expressionism

Marie Raymond, born on 4 May 1908 in La Colle-sur-Loup in the Alpes-Maritimes and died on 3 November 1988 in Paris[1], was a French painter. She was awarded the Kandinsky Prize in 1949. She was also the mother of Yves Klein: mother and son had very different painting styles, but both were abstract painters and influenced each other.
Biography
Family
Born into the provincial bourgeoisie of the French Riviera—her father, Paul, was a pharmacist in Nice and one of her grandfathers was a perfume flower merchant—Marie Raymond, born in May 1908[2], [3],[4], discovered her vocation for painting in the summer of 1924 while visiting the studio of Alexandre Stoppelaëre, a painter based in Cagnes-sur-Mer, a village beloved by artists and frequented by many of them. While still very young, she began coming to work with him once a week, painting ‘from life’[5].
In
e, Marie Klein[6]. On 28 April 1928, their son Yves was born in Nice, in his parents' flat at 15 Rue Verdi[7].
Abstract period
In 1943, the family returned to Paris, settling on Rue d'Assas, where they experienced the joys of Liberation the following year. Marie Raymond, who had worked extensively on informal geometric abstract paintings, took part in her first major exhibition at the Salon des Surindépendants in 1945. Her work was displayed alongside that of Hans Hartung, Jean Dewasne, Jean Deyrolle and Gérard Schneider.
Soon after, in March 1946, these same painters exhibited together under the title La Jeune Peinture abstraite (Young Abstract Painting) at Denise René's gallery on Rue La Boétie in Paris, selected by art critic Charles Estienne[4]. In April, Marie Raymond exhibited with Serge Poliakoff and Engel Pak at the Centre de Recherches d'Art Abstrait in Paris and, in July, at the first Salon des Réalités Nouvelles. In 1947, she took part in two exhibitions at Denise René's gallery and in the second Salon des Réalités Nouvelles. In 1949, Marie Raymond and Youla Chapoval were awarded the Kandinsky Prize[4],[8].
She took part in the first São Paulo Biennial in 1951[4]. Also in 1951, she exhibited with Jean Arp, César Domela, Alberto Magnelli, Serge Poliakoff and others, under the leadership of Denise René, at the travelling exhibition ‘Klar Form - 20 Artists of the School of Paris’ in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo and Liège[4]

In 1952, she was selected for the Salon de Mai. She interviewed Matisse for a Japanese magazine and visited Italy with her husband. Money was still tight, but the Kleins were more comfortable and entertained frequently at home. Many artists and gallery owners visited their home. They gathered there on Monday evenings in particular, with guests including Colette Allendy, Iris Clert, Pierre Soulages, Raymond Hains, François Dufrêne, Jacques Villeglé, César, Eugène Ionesco, Jean Tinguely, Hans Hartung, Nina Kandinsky, and critics Charles Estienne, Pierre Restany, and Georges Boudaille. These were Marie's Mondays[4], [8]. In 1953, the Kleins exhibited for three days at the Franco-Japanese Institute in Tokyo, on the initiative of their son, and at the Bridgestone Museum of Art in Tokyo. Marie Raymond was given a solo exhibition at the Kamakura Museum of Modern Art. In 1955, she took part in several exhibitions: at Denise René's gallery, in Lausanne, and in Amsterdam.
In 1957, a retrospective exhibition entitled ‘Marie Raymond’ was held at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam[4].
But the couple's relationship was on the rocks; Marie and Fred Klein separated in 1958 and divorced in 1961. These were painful years marked by the death of her son, who died suddenly of a heart attack on 6 June 1962, and that of her father in 1963.
Marie Raymond nevertheless exhibited at the Cavaléro Gallery in Cannes in 1963, at the Cimaise Gallery in Paris in 1966, and in Brussels. At that time, she began painting very large formats. Marie and her son influenced the development of abstract art in painting in France. Marie Raymond, then her son Yves Klein, then Marie Raymond again, contributed to the evolution of painting in France and to the appreciation of abstract art, with the son's work undoubtedly influencing his mother's last spatial paintings[8].
In 1972, a major exhibition was dedicated to Marie Raymond and her son at the Château Grimaldi in Cagnes-sur-Mer.
She died in Paris in November 1988.