François Arnal (1924-2012) Lot n° 127

Composition 1955 Oil and acrylic on canvas signed and dated lower right 200 x 300 cm Condition report: several holes and missing parts, framed with a rod "Arnal belongs to the '45 generation which, refusing the post-Cézanne conformism of the "French tradition", instinctively embraced widespread doubt, a clean slate and the questioning of established values. He quickly chose his camp, between Cobra and Informel." Pierre Restany François Arnal was a pure, daring and tireless artist: a member of the Resistance, he immersed himself in abstraction in the post-war period, becoming friends with Asger Jorn, leader of the CoBrA movement and close to the members of Pierre Dmitrienko, Serge Rezvani, Michel Tapié... it is from this period, when the artist enjoyed immediate success, that our painting dates. Nervous and teeming, the composition reveals a constant interplay with the material: here diffuse, there thick, shiny, then matte, Arnal paints fiercely, hurriedly, adding here and there vermiculures that belong to him alone and offer themselves to the lingering eye. "Strongly influenced by the nuclear power of the '50s, his painting expresses the shattering of matter, which he hurries to shape and rebuild" (Michel David, Sud-Ouest newspaper). (Michel David in the Sud-Ouest newspaper, 2011, on the occasion of the "François Arnal" exhibition at the Eysines contemporary art center) The artist then moved to Mexico, Tahiti and the United States, before returning to Paris. In 1968, his thirst for innovation led him to design, and he founded Atelier A, which publishes objects created by artists (over 35 artists in 6 years, including Arman, César, Annette Messager, Rod Adzak...), his own creations and André Cazenave's legendary Dora lamp. In 1975, he returned to painting and furthered his informal research. He also wrote, often mixing these two arts, which he practiced until the end of his life.