Pierre Soulages is remembered for work the next generation could not ignore.
The record lists Pierre Soulages as French painter and engraver (1919–2022).
Pierre Soulages was born at Rodez in 1919. His recorded nationality is France. He trained at Montpellier Fine Arts School.
Twentieth-century art was international, heavily theorised and increasingly conceptual, with the market growing alongside it.
He worked as painter, copper engraver and sculptor.
His recorded movement is informalism and abstract art.
A painting outlives the argument about it, which is the only durable form of an artistic reputation.
Recognition followed: Praemium Imperiale (1992), Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (2015), Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (2011) and Commander of the Legion of Honour (1990).
That the work was made in France shaped it: artistic traditions, academies and the galleries that decide what is seen have never been evenly distributed.
Pierre Soulages died in 2022, aged 103. The work remains, hanging in collections that outlived both the artist and the market that first priced it.
Achievements
- Praemium Imperiale — 1992
- Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour — 2015
- Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour — 2011
- Commander of the Legion of Honour — 1990
- Officer of the Legion of Honour — 1978
- Movement: Informalism and abstract art
