# Informalism

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Art movement

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Painting by Laurent Jiménez-Balaguer

**Informalism** or **Art Informel** (French pronunciation: [\[aʁ ɛ̃fɔʁmɛl\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/French)) is a [pictorial](/source/Painting) movement from the 1943–1950s,[1] that includes all the [abstract](/source/Abstract_painting) and [gestural](/source/Action_painting) tendencies that developed in [France](/source/France) and the rest of [Europe](/source/Europe) during [World War II](/source/World_War_II), similar to [American](/source/United_States) [abstract expressionism](/source/Abstract_expressionism).[2][3] Several distinguishing trends are identified within the movement such as [lyrical abstraction](/source/Lyrical_abstraction), [matter painting](/source/Matterism), [New Paris School](/source/Paris_School), [tachisme](/source/Tachisme) and [art brut](/source/Art_brut). The [French](/source/France) art critic [Michel Tapié](/source/Michel_Tapi%C3%A9) coined the term "art autre" (other art) in the [homonymous](/source/Homonym) book published in 1952 in relation to non-geometric abstract art.[3] It was instrumental in improving the concept of abstract art in France during the early 1950s. Its use in the expression of political ideologies in South America during the early 1950s was quite common, as it was seen as the main way to show support for the changing political climate.

## Pictorial practices

Within this style, each artist allows full freedom of expression to the unforeseen quality of materials (a taste for stains or chance) and randomness of gestures, thus rejecting drawing and control and the traditional conception of painting and its development that evolves from the idea to the completed work via sketches and projects. It is an open work that a spectator can interpret freely. The pictorial adventure is completely new; instead of going from the meaning to constructing the corresponding signs, the artist begins with the making of signs and gives the corresponding meaning. In the works of [Laurent Jiménez-Balaguer](/source/Laurent_Jim%C3%A9nez-Balaguer), the language of signs is further deconstructed, allowing for a universal interpretation of a private language. The contribution of music produced the art of musical informalism. Plastic characteristics of this painting are: spontaneity of the gesture, automatism, expressive use of material, the nonexistence of preconceived ideas, the experience that the deed generates the idea, and the work is the place and the privileged moment whereby the artist discovers himself; it is the end of the reproduction of the object for the representation of the theme that becomes the end of the painting. There is a closely related concept – [Lyrical Abstraction](/source/Lyrical_Abstraction), exemplified by the works of [Georges Mathieu](/source/Georges_Mathieu), [Hans Hartung](/source/Hans_Hartung), and [Pierre Soulages](/source/Pierre_Soulages).

## Uses

### Politics

#### Venezuela

During the 1950s and 1960s, at the height of the Venezuelan dictatorship, Venezuelan artists, such as [Carlos Cruz Diez](/source/Carlos_Cruz-Diez), [Gego](/source/Gego), and others, used Informalist art in response to the shift from dictatorship to democracy that their country was dealing with during this time. Their art represented their feelings on the matter as well as their response to this shift and to represent a lot of huge figures in the change over from a dictatorship into democracy.[4] They used art to represent their support for the shift away from dictatorship during these times of extreme political turbulence in their country.[5]

### Improvement on Abstraction

During the Early 1950s, France was a hotbed for Informalist art, referred to as *Un art autre,* or *art informel*, which were terms coined by French art critic Michel Tapié, who published a book by the name of *Un Art Autre* the same year as the exhibition of the same name.[6] This style was about more than just the paintings, as it also referred to concepts such as lyrical abstraction and painting styles such as tachisme, and matter painting. Artists were inspired by European paintings, as well as American expressionism, while using automatism as their way of conveying this new style of art.[7] Important artists that came out of this period in France were artists such as [Pierre Soulages](/source/Pierre_Soulages) and [Jean-Paul Riopelle](/source/Jean-Paul_Riopelle).

## Informalist painters

Enrico Accatino José Balmes Gracia Barrios Willi Baumeister Vasco Bendini Alberto Burri Mário Cesariny Eduardo Chillida Fred Friedrich Soshana Afroyim Jean Dubuffet[1] René Duvillier [fr] Jean Fautrier[8] Elsa Gramcko[9] Hans Hartung Laurent Jiménez-Balaguer Luigi Malice Georges Mathieu Henri Michaux[1] Manolo Millares Lucio Muñoz Ernst Wilhelm Nay Georges Noël [fr] Serge Poliakoff Roberto L. Pignataro Marie Raymond Jean-Paul Riopelle Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen Bernard Schultze Pablo Serrano K.R.H. Sonderborg Pierre Soulages Nicolas de Staël Antoni Tàpies[8] Emilio Vedova Maria Helena Vieira da Silva[10] Wols Rodrigo Franzão[11]

## Collections

Year Title Location 1952 Un Art Autre[12] Paris, France 2018 Contesting Modernity: Informalism in Venezuela, 1955–1975 Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

## See also

- [Matterism](/source/Matterism)

- [Nuagisme](/source/Nuagisme)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:0_1-2) ["Grandes Momentos del Arte - Ficha El informalismo europeo"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120413045700/http://www.artehistoria.jcyl.es/arte/contextos/5489.htm). *www.artehistoria.jcyl.es* (in Spanish). 13 April 2012. Archived from [the original](http://www.artehistoria.jcyl.es/arte/contextos/5489.htm) on 13 April 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Walker, John. (1992) ["Art Informel"](http://www.artdesigncafe.com/Art-Informel-1992). *Glossary of Art, Architecture & Design since 1945*, 3rd. ed., G.K. Hall, Boston, Massachusetts [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8161-0556-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8161-0556-1) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20101225204344/http://www.artdesigncafe.com/Art-Informel-1992) December 25, 2010, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_3-1) ["Art informel – Art Term"](https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/art-informel). *www.tate.org.uk*. Tate. Retrieved 11 October 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Total Creative Freedom: "Contesting Modernity" Explores Informalism"](https://www.mfah.org/blogs/inside-mfah/total-creative-freedom-contesting-modernity-explores-informalism). *The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston*. Retrieved 23 April 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Contesting Modernity: Informalism in Venezuela, 1955–1975 (October 28, 2018–January 21, 2019)"](https://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/contesting-modernity-informalism-venezuela-1955-1975). *The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston*. Retrieved 23 April 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Un art autre - Lévy Gorvy"](https://www.levygorvy.com/exhibitions/un-art-autre/). *www.levygorvy.com* (in French). Retrieved 23 April 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Tate. ["Art autre"](https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/art-autre). *Tate*. Retrieved 23 April 2022.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_8-1) ["Informalism, Abstract and Gestural Trends"](https://typesofartstyles.com/2018/01/31/informalism-abstract-and-gestural-trends/). *types of art styles* (in Spanish). 31 January 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Ramírez, Mari Carmen (2018). *Contesting Modernity, Informalism in Venezuela, 1955–1975*. Yale University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-300-23689-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-300-23689-7).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Cook, Bernard A. (ed.) (2001). *Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia*. New York & London, Garland. p. 49. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8153-4057-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8153-4057-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:6_11-0)** ["Rodrigo Franzão: Industrial strength stitching"](https://www.textileartist.org/rodrigo-franzao-industrial-strength-stitching/). *textile art*. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Tate. ["Art informel"](https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/art-informel). *Tate*. Retrieved 23 April 2022.

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