Robert Combas * Born in Lyon in 1957 Alchimikum Liberatum Dated 1991 Lithograph on Arches paper 103.5 x 85 cm, with frame 114 x 94.5 cm Signed & dated (19)91 lower center Numbered 38/70 Handwritten inscription around the edge in Eding pen (unique!) The painter Robert Combas was a driving force behind French figuration libre, a movement that formed in the 1980s and is considered the European sister of American Neo-Expressionism. With energy and a desire to provoke, Combas drew inspiration from punk, graffiti, and comics. His painting was a clear rejection of the dry conceptual art and strict academic discourse of the 1970s. Instead, he celebrated spontaneity, directness, and unfiltered expression.