Composition, 1984

Gérard Schneider   Master Artists

A Swiss painter and a French citizen, Gérard Schneider was born in 1896 and died in 1986.

He came to France in 1916 where he got trained at Arts Décoratifs de Paris and then joined Ecole des Beaux-Arts, two years later.

When he discovered painting at the age of 14, he became a fan of artists like Raphaël and Léonardo de Vinci. It was during his higher education, that he was interested by works of Delacroix, Courbet and Cézanne.

Gérard Schneider began his career in art through an impressionist style and then a surrealist one, but he found his true expression in pure lyrical abstraction. With his friends, Pierre Soulage and Hans Hartung, he began gestural painting. Lyrical abstraction filled with emotions which he portrayed on canvas and in a way, this depicted the artist's individuality.

In Gérard Schneider's paintings, his strokes are filled with passion and dynamism, his spontaneity works hand in hand with his technique. He uses white paint to highlight colors and contracts them.

One can find this freedom of visual language in his published lithographs. They show the codes of the period« lumières » by Gérard Schneider, with colorful backgrounds.

Gérard Schneider's work is exhibited all around the world and he is one of the most represented painters of the 20th century. His work are part of the collections of Moma, Beaubourg and Beaux Arts in Montreal.

Find this artist and many more in our collection of works from the Lyrical Abstraction movement.