pierre soulage

This morning I bypassed the crowds of well dressed middle aged French women queuing for the Corbet exhibition at the Musée Fabre and headed for the best rooms in the permanent collection - La collection Soulages. An extension to the museum was built in 2006 and these rooms were designed specifically for his canvases. The highlight is the last room with its high ceilings, polished light grey concrete floors and rough studded concrete walls. The light from the glass wall is cleverly diffused by perspex screens. This gives a feeling of lightness which contrasts with the sombre tones of his paintings. Soulages was interested in an 'outrenoir' (exaggerated black). He wanted to 'go beyond black, to a light that is reflected and transmuted by black'. These rooms go a long way to realising his ideas.