Jean Fautrier

Jean Fautrier (1898 – 1964) belonged to the group of French artists usually referred to as “les informels” – other members of this group include Dubuffet and Michaux. He made his breakthrough at the beginning of the 1950s with his distinctive, roughly worked but extremely colourful painting, which gave rise both to a sense of uneasiness and one of fascination. His “hostage” pictures, made during or soon after the German occupation of Paris, were particulary admired, all of which portrayed a head shape masked by a black or red slash. In 1960, Fautrier was awarded the painting prize at the Venice Biennial. The Moderna Museet has a few of these paintings on display, but primarily exhibits its large holdings of his graphic works.

Curator: Ragnar von Holten