French iconic painter of black Pierre Soulages dead at 102

By THOMAS ADAMSON
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — French painter Pierre Soulages, an icon of post-World War II European abstract art famed for his use of black, has died, according to the Soulages Museum in his hometown of Rodez. He was 102. Soulages became highly influential for his use of reflections of the color, calling it “black-light.” A major Soulages retrospective at the Louvre on the year of his 100th birthday was held in 2019, in which the museum called him “a major figure of non figurative painting” and paid tribute to his “remarkable vitality.” Soulages’ early brown-black paintings in walnut stain led on to the works that defined his life: his “outrenoir,” or beyond black, paintings.