In partnership with Europe 1, the Nantes Art Museum is offering an exhibition on American abstraction until July 18.
After 1945, France was home to many artists from the United States.
A period of intense creativity explored in "United States of Abstraction" through nearly 90 paintings and sculptures.
American abstraction in the spotlight at the Nantes Art Museum.
In this colorful Europe 1 exhibition, around a hundred canvases are presented.
Works by great painters of post-war American abstraction, created in the 1940s to 1960s in France.
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"These artists came out of the war full of hope"
On one side the ocher sand, on the other a deep blue sea.
It is an abstract vision of the Antibes sea seen from the sky.
One example among many others of these paintings created by many American artists who came to France after the war, such as Sam Francis, great master of abstraction, or Joan Mitchell, the famous painter very inspired by Paris and nature. in Giverny.
"When you look at the work, you are struck by the explosive side, powerful features, and suddenly you distinguish shapes that evoke the old fountains of Paris", describes Sophie Lévy, director of the Art Museum of Nantes.
What do these painters have in common?
The art of gushing, bright colors and their freedom.
"It is the time of the Liberation, therefore a liberation also of artists and the possibility of creating", continues Sophie Lévy.
"This exhibition is perfect to get out of your cabin, these artists were all young, they came out of the war full of hope and there is something very positive about it."
The exhibition "United States of Abstraction", American Artists in France, is on view at the Nantes Art Museum until July 18th. An exhibition which will then be in August in Montpellier.