The art world is in mourning! Pierre Soulages, an internationally renowned artist famed for his all-black works and, above all, for pioneering the outrenoir technique, has passed away on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, at the age of 102. The news was announced by the mayor of Rodez and has been confirmed by our colleagues at Franceinfo.
Pierre Soulages was one of the most iconic figures in contemporary art, renowned for pioneering outrenoir, a "new" color that uses the texture of paint to reflect light on black surfaces. An artist who never stopped creating, he worked tirelessly until the very end, producing his works in his studio in Sète, in the Hérault. In 2019, the artist still displayed his talents with a major retrospective celebrating his 100th birthday at the Louvre Museum.
Born in 1919 in Rodez, in the Aveyron region, he faced a childhood marked by tragedy when his father, a coachbuilder, passed away when he was only seven. Raised by his mother and sister, he also drew inspiration from the local artists and craftsmen in his neighborhood, who nurtured his love for art and craftsmanship. A visit to the Romanesque abbey of Conques dramatically shaped his future: "It’s there, I can say, that from a young age I decided that art would be the most important thing in my life," he revealed in a 2001 interview with the BNF.
At just 18, he arrived in Paris to prepare for the entrance exam at the School of Fine Arts. He passed the exam but found the teaching style not to his liking, so he left and returned to Rodez. After being demobilized in 1941, Pierre Soulages went back to art school, this time at the School of Fine Arts in Montpellier. His career as an artist truly took off in Courbevoie in 1946, focusing on abstract art.
An artist who has always been drawn to the color black: "This was the color of my clothes as soon as I could choose them. My mother was outraged. She would tell me: 'Are you already mourning?'", he explained to our colleagues at AFP in February 2019. A "color" that he truly began to explore in his works starting in 1979. But don't think that Pierre Soulage never ventured into other artistic territories. The artist also experimented with printmaking early on, beginning in 1951, and later with engravings, lithographs, and screen prints.
In 2014, the city of Rodez dedicated a museum to him, the Soulages Museum, displaying his paintings. However, there was one condition: that the museum also feature works by other artists. Today, it enjoys international recognition and remains a cherished memory for many art enthusiasts!
