James Coignard

JAMES COIGNARD (Tours, 1925 - Mougins, 2008).
"Composition".
Mixed media on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Provenance: Stockholms Auktionsverk.
Measurements: 80 x 60 cm; 94 x 73 cm (frame).

Abstract composition of marked vertical structure, organized from two intense red fields located in the upper area, facing each other on a light background of material texture. The central black line, the letters "AB", the lower grid and the small red, black and white signs introduce a graphic language of great visual strength, between the writing, the symbol and the architecture of space.

Coignard works the surface as a field of traces: matter, incisions, glazes and signs are superimposed to create an image of tense and refined balance. The contrast between the red density of the two rectangles and the grayish amplitude of the background gives the work a silent, almost ritual presence, where each mark seems carefully placed.

Trained at the École des Arts Décoratifs in Nice, Coignard came into contact in his early years with the environment of Henri Matisse, Georges Braque and Marc Chagall, decisive influences for his sensitivity to color and composition.

From the late sixties onwards he stood out for his mastery of carborundum engraving, a technique of which he is considered one of the great masters. His work is represented in institutions such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among other public collections.