Abstract Composition – Henderson – Collage On Paper – 1970s

Constructed Abstract Composition by Jean-Louis Henderson. Artist active in the second half of the 20th century. Collage and mixed media on paper. Circa 1970–1980. Signed lower right in red. Image size: 40 × 39 cm. Framed: 68 × 53 cm. In the second half of the 20th century, Jean-Louis Henderson developed a body of work centered on the structure and balance of forms. His work explores the dialogue between geometric construction and sensitive materiality, notably through collage and graphic intervention. His artistic language falls within the Constructed Abstraction movement of the 1960s–1980s, where formal rigor and freedom of gesture coexist with subtlety. This composition is organized according to a rigorous construction made of superimposed papers and structuring vertical elements. Long, light bands punctuated by fine black lines create a dominant architectural axis. Two powerful chromatic accents—a slanted red and a deep, ornamental green—break the strict balance and infuse the work with tension and dynamism. The background, rendered in mineral and textured tones, acts as a mural against which the glued elements stand out. The horizontal upper band stabilizes the whole and reinforces the constructed reading of the composition. The work combines formal rigor with a sensitivity to materials, characteristic of a structured yet not cold abstraction. Constructed abstraction developed in the 20th century as an extension of the geometric explorations initiated by Constructivism and Neo-Plasticism. She prioritizes structural clarity, architectural rigor, the balance of masses and lines, and the rational organization of pictorial space. In the 1960s–1980s, some artists incorporated a more tactile dimension into this rigor: collages, materials, torn paper, and graphic interventions humanized the geometric structure. Jean-Louis Henderson follows in this tradition, where the composition is based on a deliberate organization while still allowing for the vibrancy of textures and the subtle interplay of colors. Contemporary frame in natural oak, wide white mat.