OLIVIER DEBRÉ (1920-1999) Light ochre, 1976 Original canvas Signed, titled, located and dated on reverse Height 60 cm - Width 73 cm Provenance: Galerie Ariel - Galerie Ariel inventory no. 8427 - Briest sale, March 21, 2001 lot n°482 A great colorist and major figure of lyrical abstraction, Olivier Debré is often described as the French counterpart to Mark Rothko. He perfected his style in the 1960s when confronted with Scandinavian nature and the impermanence of its landscapes. Nature was to be his strongest source of inspiration, and his technical signature was the application of paint with a knife and a palette described as "warm" and free. The lyrical abstraction movement emerged in opposition to the geometric abstraction of Piet Mondrian and Wassily Kandinsky. Olivier Debré's work came to the attention of French museums in the 1980s. Our work is part of this period, and is similar in smaller dimensions to Ocre blanche d'hiver (1980), acquired by the Centre Pompidou.