Abstract Drypoint Composition On 20/20 Paper Signed Jean Messagier (1920-1999)

Abstract drypoint composition on paper, signed Jean Messagier (1920-1999), numbered 20/20. Dimensions: 68 x 94 cm

Jean Messagier was a French painter, engraver and sculptor. He was born in Paris in 1920, and died in Montbéliard in 1999. A prolific artist, he distinguished himself as an abstract painter associated with the Second School of Paris and lyrical abstraction. Refusing to accept a fixed categorization between abstraction and figuration, he cultivated a singular artistic language that quickly opened the doors to the American art scene, where he gained international recognition. His main sources of inspiration are valleys, rivers and images of water, springtime, the scent of flowers and frost and its transformations. A committed artist, Messagier has also explored engraving and sculpture, affirming his versatility and passion for perpetual research. He crossed paths and befriended many artists of his generation, including Jean Degottex, André Marfaing, Geneviève Asse, Paul Rebeyrolle and Pierre Alechinsky, as well as those of the previous generation, such as Bram van Velde, Serge Poliakoff and Charles Lapicque. Today, his works are part of the permanent collections of prestigious museums in Europe and the United States, such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence and more recently the Centre Pompidou in Paris.