A national tribute to the painter Pierre Soulages will be paid Wednesday at the Louvre, in Paris, a week after his death Tuesday at the age of 102, the Elysée announced on Saturday.
Emmanuel Macron will preside over the ceremony, which is due to begin at 3 p.m., in the presence of members of the government and the family of the artist, known worldwide in the world of painting for his paintings in infinite shades of black. The ceremony will be open to the public.
One of the most highly rated French artists of his lifetime
Born on December 24, 1919 in Rodez in an artisan environment that fed his imagination, Pierre Soulages had fallen into what he called “outrenoir” in 1979, when he was painting on a work entirely covered in thick black. , streaked by chance. He had acquired a real worldwide reputation thanks to his large canvases in a thousand shades of black. He said he was trying to “bring out the light”.
For more than 75 years, he tirelessly traced his path, attracting the recognition of cultural institutions and the art market which made him one of the most highly rated French artists during his lifetime. One of his 1961 paintings sold for $20.2 million in New York in November 2021. The painting titled Painting 162×130 cm, May 2, 1963 sold on Wednesday for almost 6 million euros, Sotheby’s announced.
He had already had the honors of a tribute to the Louvre in 2019, at the dawn of his 100th birthday. Until then, only Picasso and Chagall had had this privilege during their lifetime.