ZHONG CHENG

  • Zhong Cheng 2024 Autumn Auction「Modern And Contemporary Art」
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    GEORGES MATHIEU (1921-2012)

    La Naissance d’ Osiris

    1970

    Oil on Canvas
    97 x 162 cm

    Signed Mathieu in English and dated 1970 Signed on the reverse: titled in English

    Estimate TWD 7,500,000-10,000,000
    USD 235,000-313,300
    HKD 0-0

    Hammer Price TWD 9,000,000
    USD 278,207
    HKD 2,173,913

Provenance：

Illustrated：1. "Les Maîtres de la peinture moderne: Mathieu," Edité par, Dominique Quignon-Fleuret, Flammarion collection, Paris, France, 1973, Page 76 2. "Mathieu: 50 Ans de Création," Editions Hervas, France, 2003, Page 203

Exhibition：

Exposition：

Georges Mathieu is considered a pioneer of lyrical abstraction within the Parisian Informalism movement. He tirelessly advocated for a painting approach that is unconstrained and expressive, one that bursts forth from personal experience. Mathieu began painting in 1942 and quickly rejected the standardized abstract art of his time. He firmly believed that abstract creation must break free from the confinement and restrictions of form. His works are filled with intense energy, devoid of specific shapes, replaced instead by symbols that seem to grow and explode across the canvas. Known as the "Western calligrapher," Mathieu employed symbols as a new creative language, aiming to distance his work from mere imagery and establish a distinct, independent artistic consciousness.

"It is the most direct expression of dissatisfaction and desire. Painting is an idea—it is no longer an act. From the canvas being whipped, pushed, scratched, to the splattering of color, the merging, the piercing, the swirling, the rising, the crushing. The ancient Greek ideals of craft, surface treatment, and polishing… all forms that came first will cease to exist. In response, what will emerge are elements of tension, density, the unknown, mystery… deep layers that dominate the formation of art. For the first time in art history, painting becomes a spectacle; we can witness its creation and establishment as we would watch an improvisational performance. Just as it leaves the solitude of my studio, it steps onto the streets, engaging in a direct, spontaneous dialogue with the public. Painting becomes the action itself." — Excerpt from Georges Mathieu's Lettre à la jeunesse (Letter to the Youth), 1964.

The 1970 work La Naissance d'Osiris (The Birth of Osiris) employs a lyrical, evolving creative method that gradually leads to the "essence" of its subject. This subject is Osiris, the ancient Egyptian god of the underworld, a figure Mathieu frequently explored in his artistic career. Osiris is often depicted wearing a crown and sitting on a throne, governing the judgments of the afterlife. According to Egyptian mythology, Osiris would weigh the hearts of the deceased against a feather of Ma’at (truth and justice). Those whose hearts were lighter than the feather would be granted eternal life, while the wicked would be devoured by a monster with the head of a crocodile and the body of a lion. Osiris is also known as the "God of Rebirth," associated with the cycle of life and death, and revered as the god of agriculture and wine-making, even in his role as the lord of the underworld.

However, transforming such a deeply ingrained myth into a new artistic aesthetic, from a different perspective and visual approach, presents a considerable challenge—especially in terms of "appropriate transformation" and "lexical connection and expansion." Yet, within the history of abstract art, only a pioneer like Georges Mathieu could perfectly control this transformation, creating a piece that transcends its theme and offers viewers an experience beyond its original mythological context.

In La Naissance d'Osiris, the work predominantly uses black tones, presenting powerful, punctuated brushstrokes that swirl vertically around the axis of the composition. The monochromatic black and white palette tears through the space and light, creating an effect of depth. The work's action painting technique parallels that of Pierre Soulages, maintaining an organized, tension-filled structure. Much like the Chinese calligraphy tradition of wild cursive, it is expansive yet retains order. By choosing to use black in place of white, and vice versa, Mathieu reverses the traditional "empty space" in Chinese painting to create "emptiness in black"—a boundless horizon that emphasizes the abstract, ambiguous nature of the work. It becomes a form that is neither fully shaped nor fully formless, a visual reduction in some places and an expansion in others, revealing the unique charm of abstract painting.

In this work, the image of Osiris is conceptualized through the viewer’s engagement with the painting, as Mathieu believes that the experience of beauty should allow individuals to develop a unique dialogue with the artwork through the same medium. "When the work leaves the solitude of the studio, when it leaves the artist’s side, it grows freely in the hands of the people." Through this suitable vocabulary connection, Osiris, the symbol of infinite rebirth, gathers and coils in the dark void, only to return after the focused light fades, completing a cyclical return.

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