__NOTOC__ Tachisme (alternative spelling: Tachism, derived from the French word ''tache'', stain) is a French style of abstract

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and a ...

popular in the 1940s and 1950s. The term is said to have been first used with regards to the movement in 1951.Ian Chilvers (2004
''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''
Oxford University Press It is often considered to be the European response and equivalent to

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 ...

, although there are stylistic differences (American abstract expressionism tended to be more "aggressively raw" than tachisme). It was part of a larger postwar movement known as Art Informel (or ''Informel''), which abandoned geometric abstraction in favour of a more intuitive form of expression, similar to

action painting Action painting, sometimes called "gestural abstraction", is a style of painting in which paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied. The resulting work often emphasizes the physical a ...

. Another name for Tachism is Abstraction lyrique (related to American

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 ...

). COBRA is also related to Tachisme, as is Japan's

Gutai group The was a Japanese avant-garde artist group founded in the Hanshin region by young artists under the leadership of the painter Jirō Yoshihara in Ashiya, Japan, in 1954. The group, today one of the most internationally-recognized instances o ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the term

School of Paris The School of Paris (french: École de Paris) refers to the French and émigré artists who worked in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. The School of Paris was not a single art movement or institution, but refers to the importan ...

often referred to Tachisme, the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an equivalent of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

abstract expressionism. Important proponents were Jean-Paul Riopelle, Wols,

Jean Dubuffet Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French painter and sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what he believed to be a ...

Pierre Soulages Pierre Jean Louis Germain Soulages (; 24 December 1919 – 26 October 2022) was a French painter, printmaker, and sculptor. In 2014, President François Hollande of France described him as "the world's greatest living artist." His works are held ...

, Nicolas de Staël,

Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II veteran of the Legion d'honneur. Life Hartung was born in Leipzig, Germany into an ar ...

Gérard Schneider Gérard ( French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constitu ...

, Serge Poliakoff,

Georges Mathieu Georges Mathieu (27 January 1921 – 10 June 2012) was a French abstract painter, art theorist, and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He is considered one of the fathers of European lyrical abstraction, a trend of informalism. B ...

and Jean Messagier, among several others. (See list of artists below.) According to Chilvers, the term ''tachisme'' "was first used in this sense in about 1951 (the French critics Charles Estienne and Pierre Guéguen have each been credited with coining it) and it was given wide currency by

rench critic and painter The Rench is a right-hand tributary of the Rhine in the Ortenau (Baden (Land), Central Baden, Germany). It rises on the southern edge of the Northern Black Forest at Kniebis near Bad Griesbach im Schwarzwald. The source farthest from the mouth is ...

Michel Tapié in his book ''Un Art autre'' (1952)." Tachisme was a reaction to

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

and is characterized by spontaneous brushwork, drips and blobs of paint straight from the tube, and sometimes scribbling reminiscent of

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined ...

. Tachisme is closely related to

Informalism Informalism or Art Informel is a pictorial movement from the 1943–1950s, that includes all the abstract and gestural tendencies that developed in France and the rest of Europe during the World War II, similar to American abstract expression ...

or Art Informel, which, in its 1950s French art-critical context, referred not so much to a sense of "informal art" as "a lack or absence of form itself"–non-formal or un-form-ulated–and not a simple reduction of formality or formalness. Art Informel was more about the absence of premeditated structure, conception or approach (''sans cérémonie'') than a mere casual, loosened or relaxed art procedure.Troy Dean Harris
A Note on Art Informel. 2009, Bauddhamata 11.6.09.

Artists

Pierre Alechinsky Pierre Alechinsky (born 19 October 1927) is a Belgian artist. He has lived and worked in France since 1951. His work is related to tachisme, abstract expressionism, and lyrical abstraction. Life Alechinsky was born in Schaerbeek. In 1944 he ...

(born 1927) – Cobra group *

Karel Appel Christiaan Karel Appel (; 25 April 1921 – 3 May 2006) was a Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet. He started painting at the age of fourteen and studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in the 1940s. He was one of the founders of the avant-garde ...

(1921–2006) – Cobra group * Frank Avray Wilson (1914–2009) * Jean René Bazaine (1904–2001) * Roger Bissière (1888–1964) * Ferruccio Bortoluzzi (1920–2007) *

Norman Bluhm Norman Bluhm (March 28, 1921 – February 3, 1999), was an American painter classified as an abstract expressionist, and as an action painter. Biography He was born on March 28, 1921 in Chicago, Illinois. His father Henry Bluhm was of Polish ...

(1921–1999) – American associated with this movement *

Bram Bogart Bram Bogart (July 12, 1921 – May 2, 2012) was a Belgian expressionist painter most closely associated with the COBRA group. Early life and education Abraham van den Boogaart was born in Delft, the Netherlands, the son of Abraham van den Boogaa ...

(1921–2012) – Cobra group *

Alexander Bogen Alexander Bogen ( he, אלכסנדר בוגן; born 24 January 1916 – 20 October 2010) was a Polish- Israeli visual artist, a decorated leader of partisans during World War II, a key player in 20th century Yiddish culture, and one of the trail ...

(1916–2010) * Denis Bowen (1921–2006) * Camille Bryen (1907–1977) *

Alberto Burri Alberto Burri (12 March 191513 February 1995; ) was an Italian visual artist, painter, sculptor, and physician based in Città di Castello. He is associated with the matterism of the European informal art movement and described his style as ...

(1915–1995) *

Beauford Delaney Beauford Delaney (December 30, 1901 – March 26, 1979) was an American modernist painter. He is remembered for his work with the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as his later works in abstract expressionism following his mov ...

(1901–1979) – American associated with this movement *

(1901–1985) * Agenore Fabbri (1911–1998) *

Jean Fautrier Jean Fautrier (May 16, 1898 – July 21, 1964) was a French painter, illustrator, printmaker, and sculptor. He was one of the most important practitioners of Tachisme. Early life Jean Fautrier was born in Paris in 1898. He was given his unwed ...

(1898–1964) *

Lucio Fontana Lucio Fontana (; 19 February 1899 – 7 September 1968) was an Argentine-Italian painter, sculptor and theorist. He is mostly known as the founder of Spatialism. Early life Born in Rosario, to Italian immigrant parents, he was ...

(1899–1968) * Sam Francis (1923–1994) – American associated with this movement * Elaine Hamilton (1920–2010) – American associate of Tapié, influenced by this movement *

(1904–1989) * Jacques Hérold (1910–1987) * Laurent Jiménez-Balaguer (born 1928) * Paul Jenkins (1923–2012) – American associated with this movement *

Asger Jorn Asger Oluf Jorn (3 March 1914 – 1 May 1973) was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International. He was born in Vejrum, in the northwest c ...

(1914–1973) – Cobra group *

Karel Kuklík Karel Kuklík (March 7, 1937, Prague, Czechoslovakia – August 18, 2019, Prague) was a Czech photographer and one of the representatives of Informel in Czech fine art photography. He was classified as an artist influenced by abstract and surre ...

(1937–2019) – Czech photographer regarded as a representative of Informel in photography. * Joseph Lacasse (1894–1975) * René Laubies (1922–2006) *

André Lanskoy André Lanskoy (31 March 1902 – 24 August 1976) was a Russian painter and printmaker who worked in France. He is associated with the School of Paris and Tachisme, an abstract painting movement that began during the 1940s. Biography He w ...

(1902–1976) *

François Lanzi François Lanzi (5 July 1916 – 13 November 1988) was a French-born artist who lived a large part of his adult life in the United Kingdom. His life He was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on 5 July 1916, to Laurent Lanzi and Clementine Sartoni. ...

(1916–1988) *

Maria Lassnig Maria Lassnig (8 September 1919 – 6 May 2014) was an Austrian artist known for her painted self-portraits and her theory of "body awareness".Attias, Lauri''Maria Lassnig'', ''Frieze'', May 1996. She was the first female artist to win the Gran ...

(1919–2014) *

(1921–2012) * Jean Messagier (1920–1999) * Henri Michaux (1899–1984) *

Jean Miotte Jean Miotte (1926-March 1, 2016) was a French abstract painter, in the style known as L'Art Informel. His work was preserved and studied by the Miotte Foundation and is in the collections of museums including: MoMA and the Guggenheim in New Yor ...

(born 1926) * Ludwig Merwart (1913–1979) *

Zoran Mušič Zoran Mušič (12 February 1909 – 25 May 2005), baptised as Anton Zoran Musič, was a Slovene painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. He was the only painter of Slovene descent who managed to establish himself in the elite cultural circles of I ...

(1909–2005) *

Ernst Wilhelm Nay Ernst Wilhelm Nay (June 11, 1902 – April 8, 1968) was a German painter and graphic designer of classical modernism. He is considered one of the most important painters of German post-war art. Biography Nay came from a Berlin civil servant ...

(1902–1968) – German influenced by this movement *

Gen Paul Gen Paul (July 2, 1895 – April 30, 1975) was a French painter and engraver. Biography Born as Eugène Paul in a house in Montmartre on the Rue Lepic painted by Van Gogh, he began drawing and painting as a child. His father died when he was o ...

(1895–1975) * Serge Poliakoff (1906–1969) * Marie Raymond (1908–1989) * Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923–2002) *

Maria Helena Vieira da Silva Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (13 June 1908 – 6 March 1992) was a Portuguese abstract painter. She was considered a leading member of the European abstract expressionism movement known as Art Informel. Her works feature complex interiors and ...

(1908–1992) *

Emilio Scanavino Emilio Scanavino (Genoa, 28 February 1922 – Milan, 28 November 1986) was an Italian painter and sculptor. Early life Scanavino was born in Genoa. In 1938 he enrolled to the Art School Nicolò Barabino where he met Mario Calonghi, who was teach ...

(1922–1986) *

(1896–1986) *

Emil Schumacher Emil Schumacher (29 August 1912 in Hagen, Westfalen – 4 October 1999 in San José, Ibiza) was a German painter. He was an important representative of abstract expressionism in post-war Germany. In 2009 the Kunstquartier Hagen was inaugura ...

(1912–1999) *

(1919–2022) * Nicolas de Staël (1914–1955) *

Pierre Tal-Coat Pierre Tal-Coat (real name Pierre Louis Jacob; 1905–1985) was a French artist considered to be one of the founders of Tachisme. Life and work He was born the son of a fisherman, in the village of Clohars-Carnoët, Finistère in 1905. He attend ...

(1905–1985) - French * Michel Tapié (1909–1987) *

Antoni Tàpies Antoni Tàpies i Puig, 1st Marquess of Tápies (; 13 December 1923 – 6 February 2012) was a Catalan People, Catalan painter, sculptor and art theorist, who became one of the most famous European artists of his generation. Life The son of Jo ...

(1923–2012) *

Bram van Velde Bram (Abraham Gerardus) van Velde (19 October 1895 – 28 December 1981) was a Dutch painter known for an intensely colored and geometric semi-representational painting style related to Tachisme, and Lyrical Abstraction. He is often seen as me ...

(1895–1981) * Louis Van Lint (1909–1986) * François Willi Wendt (1909–1970) * Wols (Alfred Otto Wolfgang Schulze) (1913–1951) *

Zao Wou Ki Zao Wou-Ki (; 1 February 1920 – 9 April 2013) was a Chinese-French painter. He was a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Zao Wou-Ki graduated from the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, where he studied under Fang Ganmin and Wu ...

(1921–2013)

Notes

References

*Chilvers, Ian
''A dictionary of twentieth-century art''

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

;

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Press, 1998 *Tapié, Michel
''Un art autre où il s'agit de nouveaux dévidages du réel'

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, Gabriel-Giraud et fils, 1952

OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It wa ...

1110556 *Tiampo, Ming. ''Gutai and Informel Post-war art in Japan and France, 1945—1965''. (Worldcat link

(Dissertation Abstracts International, 65-01A) , {{westernart Art Informel and Tachisme, French art movements Abstract expressionism Contemporary art movements French contemporary art School of Paris