Nuagisme (literally Cloudism) is a French

art-critical Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation but it is quest ...

term for an art movement that was advanced in the 1950s by French art critic

Julien Alvard Julien Alvard (1916–1974) was a French art critic known for having launched a modern art movement that he baptized Nuagisme in which young French and foreign painters participated in France. Nuagisme lasted between 1955 and 1973. Most Nuagis ...

(1916–1974) in which young French and foreign painters participated in France. Nuagisme lasted between 1955 and 1973.

Art historical context

The major contribution of Nuagist painting was to find (and encourage) transparency and depth in painting that the cold flatness of

Geometric abstraction Geometric abstraction is a form of abstract art based on the use of geometric forms sometimes, though not always, placed in non-illusionistic space and combined into non-objective (non-representational) compositions. Although the genre was popu ...

had rejected from the pictorial field. Nuagisme can be considered part of the art movements called

Lyrical Abstraction Lyrical abstraction is either of two related but distinct trends in Post-war Modernist painting: ''European Abstraction Lyrique'' born in Paris, the French art critic Jean José Marchand being credited with coining its name in 1947, considered ...

Arte Informale Arte Informale is a term coined in 1950 by the French critic Michel Tapié to refer to the art movement that began during the mid-1940s in post-World War II Europe. This movement also paralleled the Abstract Expressionism movement that was taking p ...

and

Tachism __NOTOC__ Tachisme (alternative spelling: Tachism, derived from the French word ''tache'', stain) is a French style of abstract painting popular in the 1940s and 1950s. The term is said to have been first used with regards to the movement in 19 ...

Style

René Duvillier's whirlpools, Frédéric Benrath's knots and volutes, Fernando Lerin's obscure forms reflected Nuagisme's openness to natural elements which can sometimes evoke

clouds In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may com ...

. Most Nuagisme exhibitions were organized between 1955 and 1973 by Alvard.Pichon, Michèle. 2006
Quand le peintre rêve les éléments : Approche bachelardienne de l’Abstraction naturaliste
(Conférence prononçée le 20 octobre 2006 au sein du Groupe d’Études et de Recherches Épistémologiques, Paris) The painters participating in these exhibitions were not always the same, but were regularly influenced both by American

Abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...

and by the

Japanese painting is one of the oldest and most highly refined of the Japanese visual arts, encompassing a wide variety of genres and styles. As with the history of Japanese arts in general, the long history of Japanese painting exhibits synthesis and competitio ...

and

Chinese painting Chinese painting () is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as ''guó huà'' (), meaning "national painting" or "native painting", as opposed to Western style ...

traditions. For example, Nuagisme is marked by the use of emptiness, which suggests infinity. Nuagist painters embraced the imaginative faculties of natural effects, leading to painted abstract landscapes designed as a link between external nature and the internal landscape. They do not reproduce skies in a figurative approach, but paint clouds for their vitality.

Materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materiali ...

is also called into question by the Nuagist painters who expressed the fluidity of elusive spaces by blotting with a rag on freshly painted backgrounds. This blotting contributed to the desired Nuagist transparency effect.

Artists

Jean Messagier Jean Messagier (Paris, 13 July 1920 – Montbéliard, 10 September 1999) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker and poet. Jean Messagier had his first solo exhibition in Paris at Galerie Arc-en-Ciel in 1947. From 1945 to 1949 the artist worke ...

*Frédéric Benrath *René Duvillier *Pierre Graziani * René Laubiès *Marcelle Loubchansky *Nasser Assar *Fernando Lerin

References

*Alvard Julien, ''Témoignages pour l'art abstrait'', Paris, Editions Art d'aujourd'hui, 1952 *Alvard Julien, ''L'Art moral ou la répétition punie'', Imprimerie Le soleil, 1957 *M. A.-L, ''Une jeune femme, deux Américains, un nuagiste'', in Les Lettres françaises no 1118 du 16 au 16 février 1966, p. 29 *Benrath Frédéric, ''Catalogue de l'exposition Le nuagisme même'', Musée des Beaux-arts de Lyon, 1973 *Bonnefoi Geneviève, ''Les années fertiles 1940-1960'', Paris, Mouvements Editions, 1988 *Brichet Isabelle, ''Le Nuagisme'', Paris, Université de Paris IV Sorbonne, 2006 *Calmon Michel, ''Catalogue de l'exposition au musée des Beaux-arts de Chartres'', Chartres, Musée des Beaux-arts de Chartres, 2008 *Calmon Michel, ''Nuages-nuagisme'', Area Revue, no 22, 2010 *Alvard Julien, ''D'une nature sans limites à une peinture sans bornes'', ''Art d'aujourd'hui'', July 1953 *Gassiot-Talabot Gérald, ''Le nuage crève'', ''Cimaise'', Jully 1964 *Gassiot-Talabot Gérald, ''Les nuagistes'', ''Opus International'', November 2011 *Grenier Jean, ''Le nuagisme'', ''Chefs-d'œuvre de l'art'', September 1963 *Rey Jean-Dominique, ''Le nuagisme'', ''Jardin des arts'', 1965

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuagisme Contemporary art movements French art movements Abstract art Avant-garde art Modern art French art