Lot 171 D

In 1926 Jean Fautrier began his black pictures, in which he causes nudes and still lifes to emerge out of the black ground through contours scratched into the paint and his sparing use of cool tones. This results in darkly smouldering works with a magical air. The surrounding space is left unclear: the subjects permanently remain within an impenetrable gloom illuminated by a few highlights.
The unconventional use of the painting materials plays a key role in this pictorial effect. “In his 'période noire' Fautrier was already reworking the layer of paint by scratching the contours of objects into it so that the lines settled in around the painted flowers and fruits and stood in contrast to the black ground. […] 'I would like to assemble a palette for myself that is entirely my own, a system in which drawing would have its place and, additionally, an important place in which the colour or the thick paint would not disrupt its significance', is Fautrier's description of his intention. Here the drawing is not an end in itself: on the one hand, as its final definition, it establishes the connection to the object on which the picture is based and, on the other hand, it is the complement to the material, the open and still-undefined ground of the image.” (Dieter Schwarz, Fragen zu Fautrier, in: Jean Fautrier, exhib. cat. Kunstmuseum Winterthur 2017, p. 27).