GÉRARD SCHNEIDER: De l’Abstraction au lyrisme - 1945-1955
The exhibition being presented by Diane de Polignac is without any doubt a first because it shows works by Gérard Schneider created exclusively from 1945, so he end of the war, to 1955. The reach of these paintings is evident and this applies for the entire period of ten years or so of aesthetic unity and diversification. So many permanent advances in his visual and colour investigations. It becomes obvious to us that during these years, his painting, an avalanche of emotions, evolved ceaselessly, brilliantly, from the first angular forms. Some remain close to this straightness without being entirely distant from the figurative subject (cf. OPUS 2681, 1945). The first more gestural endeavours also appear during this period and quickly take over, as early as 1947 (cf. OPUS 3502). Finally, the lyrical definitively overcomes methodical rigour. Warmth defeats cold! There, the artist incites the encounter, even the shock of the two languages of austere structure and liberated gesture. From then on, without ever being overly eloquent, Gérard Schneider was no less an exalted painter, but always one in control. Evoking his frenzy for painting, he simply invoked the visual image of his emotion and his instinct.
Schneider’s place in history cannot be denied. He is one of the very few pioneers of lyrical abstraction of which the aura that had disappeared for a time, returned to us a few years ago with exhibitions of the highest order. If Schneider, Hartung and Soulages are its emblematic figures, the real innovators, naturally, they don’t have any less highly diversified identities. The oldest among them, Gérard Schneider, enjoyed transcribing onto a canvas the “lyrical forces that sing in him”. His subconscious spontaneously guided the gesture he printed with a brush filled with colours that were most often bright. This continued to be obvious up to his death in 1986!
I had the opportunity of meeting Gérard Schneider during the last ten years of his life. Our conversations were of course about painting and his painting, but he most often enjoyed talking about poetry and music, a lot of music, of which he was a fine connoisseur. Regarding his painting, he showed it much more than he talked about it, benevolently allowing the visitor to appreciate and comment on his work freely. Schneider was an affable man, measured, independent and profoundly free. He was in full possession of himself, guided by a unique desire: the act of painting. He enjoyed emphasizing that a work must resolve the conflicts of its author to the extent that the author becomes conscious of the sources of his inspiration. Lastly, we should remember that his permanent restraint, doubled with an accurate view towards others always earned him obvious respect in the art world that was clearly justified.
Patrick-Gilles Persin
