Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 2: Modern Era (1850–1949)

1947

Jean-José Marchand and Georges Mathieu coin the term lyrical abstraction

Event · North America

Broad black and gray gestural brushstrokes intersect fine red lines on an off-white field.
Georges Mathieu, Painting, 1947. Oil and gesso on plywood, 159.7 × 120 cm. Georges Mathieu. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 660.1959, Gift of G. David Thompson. Reproduction photographer not identified. Image source.

A substyle of the European Art Informel, Lyrical Abstraction favored anti-compositional forms and loose gestural techniques. It was related to the American Abstract Expressionism and influenced by Surrealism’s spontaneity and irrationality.

Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.

Sources

People

Georges Mathieu, Jean-José Marchand

Movements

Abstract Expressionism, Art Informel, Lyrical Abstraction, Surrealism

Filed under

Ideas
Abstract Expressionism, abstraction, Art Informel, gestural abstraction, Lyrical Abstraction, spontaneity, Surrealism
People
Georges Mathieu, Jean-José Marchand
Places
Europe

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