The first retrospective exhibition of French artist Georges Mathieu (1921-2012) in China is going on at the Long Museum West Bund in Shanghai from Aug 27 to Oct 27.

Founder of lyrical abstraction in 1946, Mathieu was one of the few European painters who made a significant impact on the abstract expressionist scene in New York, according to Wang Wei, director of the Long Museum. He used to paint in front of the public, and these public painting sessions ushered in performance art, and from the 1970s onward, contributed to the emergence of graffiti.

As the largest exhibition of Mathieu in Asia, the exhibition showcases more than 80 paintings, covering more than four decades of his creative activity, offering a unique opportunity to explore his prolific body of work.

Mathieu grew up in Northern France and Versailles and studied English at the University of Lille. He began experimenting with painting at the age of 21 and turned to abstract in 1944, in order to break free from traditional constraints to assert a new-found freedom, embracing color, impulsive graphic lines, spontaneous pictorial writing and raw materials.

He began to create large-scale frescoes, spreading up to nine meters wide in 1952, and invited photographers and cameramen, and members of the public to record and witness his creative process.

Mathieu's paintings are instantly recognizable for their calligraphic lyricism and exceptional precision. Despite the speed and spontaneity with which they are executed, every stroke is purposeful, according to art critic Antje Kramer-Mallordy.