Auguste Herbin was the great father figure and pioneer of ‘abstract géometrique’, of Concrete Art in France. A contemporary of Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, he paved the way for this completely new current in art and secured himself a place in the history books.
(...) Continue readingAuguste Herbin – A craftsman’s son from the province becomes a successful painter
Auguste Herbin was born on 29 April 1882 in Quiévy near Cambrai. Abstract art in the down-to-earth artisan family from a small town near the French-Belgian border was unthinkable, but despite this, he was able to study from 1899 to 1901 in Lille at the École des Beaux-Arts. Auguste Herbin’s roots can certainly be seen in his work in its clear structuring, but it also possesses a rational coolness far removed from any sentimentality. He moved to Paris in 1901, where he finally settled as a full-time painter. On occasional trips to Belgium, he established a network of valuable contacts with other artists and their circle in Bruges, and in 1905, was able to present his work for the first time in the Salon des Indépendants. Two years later, he participated in the Salon d’Automne with the young Fauvists. His artistic future, however, lay in a different direction: after a groundbreaking encounter with the Spanish Cubist Juan Gris, Herbin took rapid steps towards Cubism in the months that followed.
Picasso’s neighbour; comprehensive engagement in art
As a consequence of his new painting direction, Auguste Herbin moved in 1909 to Bateau-Lavoir on Montmartre, where he once again met not only Juan Gris, but also Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani. In 1916 he finalised a contracted with the gallery Léonce Rosenberg in Paris which led to several solo exhibitions in 1918, 1921 and 1924. During these successful years, Herbin moved ceaselessly towards his well-known geometric style, which he only briefly put to one side once in 1922 for a temporary return to representational painting. Herbin was one of the founders of the Salon des Surindépendants in 1929 and in 1931, brought to life the group Abstraction-Création with the Belgian artist Georges Vantongerloo, and was also co-editor of the journal abstraction, creation, art non figuratif. The Second World War partially threw a spanner in the flow of the active artist, but could not stop Auguste Herbin in the long run.
The foundation of Concrete Art
In 1942, during the last years of the war, Auguste Herbin created his alphabet plastique, a cornerstone for the development of Concrete Art, with which he attempted to systemise the use of colour, and also contributed to the founding of the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, which he chaired from 1955. An unexpected hurdle came in the form of partial paralysis of his body which hindered the use of his right hand and forced him to become accustomed to wielding the paintbrush with his left hand.
Auguste Herbin died in Paris on 31 January 1960. The last picture he was working on, and which he left unfinished to posterity, was meaningfully titled ‘Fin’ (End).
Auguste Herbin - Works that have already been sold at Kunsthaus Lempertz:
