artist/ SOULAGES

France

Pierre Soulages (1919–2022) was a French painter and printmaker renowned for his exploration of black, which he called “outrenoir,” a way of creating light through the color black. Born in Rodez, he gained international recognition in the 1950s for his abstract, gestural paintings with heavy textures. His work, exhibited worldwide, spans more than eight decades. Soulages is considered one of the most important figures in postwar abstract art.