Even as a child, Soulage says, he liked black because it made the rest of the paper look all the more white.
When he was sixty, his paintings became all black, a black he calls outrenoir, which translates roughly as “beyond black.”
He doesn’t think of himself as painting with black paint, but with light. The light reflects off the thick, textured black paint and that is what you see. “I made these because I found that the light reflected by the black surface elicits certain emotions in me. These aren’t monochromes. The fact that light can come from the color which is supposedly the absence of light is already quite moving, and it is interesting to see how this happens.”
He was born December 24, 1919. Approaching 101, he says he’s looking forward to more ideas to come to him.
The Musée Soulage, in Rodez , Southern France, is devoted to his work.
I recommend the following links for more images of his work and of interviews with him:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw7tkgVnRTw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azb6K-R_q8M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylZGz3NuidA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eydws5jJ6ys
Two days ago I was reminded of Pierre Soulage when I took the photo posted as “Not Levitating.” When I framed the shot I saw the uncanny light that was coming through the front doors glass panel in late afternoon. On the photo, which is unedited, the light “column” at the left appears so substantial that its weight equals that of the blue sphere, which would otherwise have to dominant the composition.
https://artamaze.wordpress.com/2020/11/12/not-levitating/
All contents copyright (C) 2010 Katherine Hilden. All rights reserved.
artamaze by Katherine Hilden 
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