Geneviève CLAISSE (1935–2018), “Untitled”, colour silkscreen print on paper, signed lower right and numbered 23/30 lower left. H. 37 x 37 cm Born in 1935 in Quiévy, in the Nord department, Geneviève Claisse very quickly embarked on her own artistic journey by reinterpreting abstract art, moving from classical forms derived from the North American Colour Field movement of the 1940s to a rigorous geometric style. Geneviève Claisse was influenced by the masters of abstraction of the 1950s, such as Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) and Auguste Herbin (1882–1960). She organised her first exhibition in Paris in 1961 alongside the gallery owner Denise René (1913–2012), who supported the kinetic and abstract movements of the time. In her paintings – and her sculptures – Geneviève Claisse juxtaposes synthetic forms with bold colours that define her distinctive pictorial language, emblematic of the 1960s. “To colour a work is to bring it to life.”