GEORGES MATHIEU (1921-2012) 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. Although he never received a formal art education, he became a notable French artist through his distinctive compositions using striking colours and lines to create stylish abstract masterpieces (the French equivalent of Abstract Expressionism also known as Lyrical Abstraction, Tachisme or Art Informel)