Painting, 222 x 157 cm, August 24, 1979

The abstract painter Soulages has made it a habit to title his works with only their dimensions and date of completion. He also insists that they not be framed, but simply mounted on stretchers, which he often makes himself. The broad swaths of paint he brushes over the canvas enable him to combine contour, surface, colour and medium at one and the same time. According to Soulages, 1979 marked a break with his previous practice through the “invention” of what he called “black light,” or “beyond black,” that is, the use of black paint to produce light through reflection. As he has said: “Beyond black: meaning reflected light, transmuted by black. Beyond black: a black that, by ceasing to be black, emits light, a secret light. Beyond black: a mental space that is different from mere black.”