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4 I N TROD U C T I O N Geneviève Claisse is one of the defining voices of European abstraction. Through her deep understanding of the harmony between pure form and colour, Claisse has created a ground-breaking body of work that gently traverses the boundary separating geometric and organic abstraction. Existing somewhere between these two major movements of the Post-War period, Claisse has emerged as a pioneer of the abstract tradition. Born in Quiévy in the north of France, Claisse escaped the limits of village life through the pages of the contemporary art magazine Art d'aujourd'hui. Drawn to rebels of the avant-garde such as Mondrian and Malevich, Claisse felt inspired to forge her own radical vision of the world. As a young teenager, Claisse explains, 'I was already abstract, practically from birth. I didn't really search for a way because abstraction appeared to me as the one and only way available, the true reason of art for the painter'. In this way, Claisse found a natural ability to capture the bold visual language that filled her mind and poured out onto the pages of her sketchbook. Following in the footsteps of her great-uncle, the esteemed abstract painter Auguste Herbin, Claisse travelled to Paris in 1959. Her talent was quickly recognised by gallerist Denise René who exhibited her work beside that of František Kupka, Josef Albers, Jean Arp, Sonia Delaunay and Victor Vasarely. However, unlike Herbin and many of Galerie Denise René's stable of artists, Claisse went beyond the confines of hard-edged Minimalism and Op art. Instead, Claisse infused her abstract work with a powerful sense of feeling and spirituality that echoed the lyrical organic movement championed by Serge Poliakoff and Pierre Soulages. This astonishing combination of geometric and poetic sensation established Claisse's unique voice at the forefront of abstraction. Claisse begins her practice with a flurry of drawings. Disregarding the laws of mathematics, these wonderfully spontaneous sketches are inspired by an essential internal dialogue. She explains this process saying, 'my paintings are a true interior representation that grows from the deepest depths of my perception'. Through this intuitive method, filled with nuances and risks, Claisse distinguished herself from the rigid geometry of Op artists such as Vasarely and Bridget Riley, with whom she exhibited in shows including the seminal Movement at Hanover Gallery in 1964. However, Claisse quickly moved past the illusions of Op art to embrace a deeper, divine energy. Claisse's oeuvre is defined by the triangle, circle and square, which have dominated her work at differ- Image: Renormalisation d'Energie, 2002. Gouache on paper. (image) 8 1 / 2 x 8 5 / 8 in, 21.6 x 22 cm. (sheet) 14 1 / 8 x 10 1 / 8 in, 36 x 25.5 cm