My knowledge of post WWII French Abstraction is not very strong; in art history classes, Nouveau Realism in France and AbEx and then Pop Art in New York were most of the attention of the era went! But in spending a little time looking at the work of French Abstact painters and print makers Pierre Soulages and Raoul Ubac, to whom the French seller of this print pointed me, this piece was very clearly done by an artist of that school. One sees a relationship with the work of Motherwell, for example, too.
Lithography I believe (or possibly a linocut?), printed on white arches-type paper. The solid black forms were printed first, then a series of embossed and lightly inked vertically running lines, primarily running over the larger black form and along the right edge of the paper. I find it quite an elegant piece, with a satisfying tension between positive and negative space and between the larger and smaller black forms. In pencil is written what appears to be "coquetier", which I believe translates as "egg cup"--a bit elusive!
11 3/4" x 8 3/8". Initialed at center, dated 1978, and numbered 36 from an edition of 95. Very good condition.
