Gérard Schneider Painting, Abstract Composition, Abstraction, Galerie XX, Greeting Card, Shipping

An abstract composition by Gérard Schneider, created on a greeting card and accompanied on the back by a handwritten message signed “L. and G. Schneider.”

The work is built upon the white space left largely untouched on the paper. Broad black and gray strokes form the framework of the composition, interspersed with passages of dark purple, blue-gray, and green. Several long, diagonal green lines strongly energize the space and draw the eye toward a small, isolated red disc on the right-hand side. This highly concentrated red dot acts as a chromatic counterpoint to the overall large, dark movements.

The technique combines several media applied directly to the paper: ink and black paint, gouache, or watercolor, as well as sections rendered in pastel or oil pastel. The different materials are clearly visible: diffuse washes, dry strokes, smudges, layers, and areas of the paper left exposed.

Despite its small size, the work embodies the full vocabulary of gestural abstraction developed by Gérard Schneider: the contrast between masses and signs, the spontaneity of the gesture, the absence of figurative composition, the decisive role of color, and the active use of the white of the paper. The lines do not depict any object but directly capture the movement of the hand.

Gérard Schneider is one of the leading figures of postwar French lyrical abstraction, alongside Georges Mathieu, Hans Hartung, Pierre Soulages, Jean-Michel Atlan, and Jean-Paul Riopelle. His painting is based on the freedom of gesture, the tension of forms, and a conception of color as an autonomous element. Beginning in the 1950s, his work gained significant international recognition, particularly in the United States.

The reverse side bears the following handwritten text:

“ Our best wishes that 1981 will be a very good year for you and your family—L. and G. Schneider.”

The signature “L. and G. Schneider” refers to Gérard Schneider and his wife, Loïs Frederick Schneider.

Provenance: purchased in the 2000s by the former owner from Galerie Éric Dupont, Paris.

Technique: mixed media on heavy paper.

Card dimensions: 15 x 9.8 cm.

Date: circa 1980–1981.

Work presented in an antique double-sided frame under glass