Characterised by weighty, black, bar-like brushstrokes, 'Peinture 92 x 73 cm, 9 mars 1961' is an elegant paean to the relationship between darkness and light. The bold quality of the marks that articulate the surface are thrust into relief by their contrast with the warmth of the pale surface at the lower right. 'Peinture 92 x 73 cm, 9 mars 1961' dates from an important moment in Soulages’ career, a time when the artist was garnering more and more attention in the United States as well as in France and Europe. Indeed, the present work was included in Soulages’ solo exhibition at the acclaimed Kootz Gallery, New York, 1961, and was exhibited twice at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1963 and 1977.
'Peinture 92 x 73 cm, 9 mars 1961' was painted mere weeks before the celebrated writer Roger Vailland visited Pierre Soulages’ studio. On this occasion, Vailland became the sole witness to Soulages’ processes and techniques as the artist created his work. Vailland described the careful selection of a canvas size that suited Soulages’ mood. He wrote of the tools used by the artist, including the glass upon which he would smear the paint in order to assess its luminosity, and the various unusual implements that he would use in order to manipulate the paint on the canvas. ‘Soulages never plans ahead when he begins a painting,’ Vailland explained, ‘he creates a situation with a canvas and some colours, always a very small number of colours. Or it could be said that he allows himself opportunities; he opens a door to chance. Then he manages to make the most of the situation, to play his hand. This works or does not work. The painting is created or is not created’ (R. Vailland, ‘Comment travaille Pierre Soulages’, in L’Oeil, no. 77, May 1961, p. 46).
Indeed it was at this time that Soulages was being granted increasing recognition as a pioneer of abstract painting. Stylistically, this critical moment saw the artist consolidate an artistic language that he had been developing gradually, since the late 1940s. In the earlier works in which Soulages created an abstract idiom, after all traces of signs had dissolved, the artist often painted lattice-like patterns of dark bars of colour. Gradually, these increased in visual mass, resulting in pictures such as 'Peinture 92 x 73 cm, 9 mars 1961' where the darkness covers much of the surface. It is no longer a simple matter of foreground and background, nor motif and backdrop. Instead, our eyes follow the horizontal and diagonal movements that have coalesced to create this pulsing, rhythmic composition. Soulages has dismantled and discarded figuration, instead exploring the visual potency of paint to convey a sense of space. This is achieved by his incredible ability to paint a picture that is predominantly black and yet evokes a rich play of light.
