JOHN-FRANKLIN KOENIG (1924-2008) - Lot 40

JOHN-FRANKLIN KOENIG (1924-2008) CARBURATOR, 1998, Collage and mixed media on paper. Signed, dated lower right and titled lower left. H 75 x W 54 cm Born in Seattle in 1924, Koenig arrived in France in 1944 as an American soldier. He settled in Paris in 1948 and became one of the leading figures of lyrical abstraction (a pictorial movement seeking spontaneous expression of individual emotion). He joined the Cimaise group with Michel Ragon and Pierre Restany. From 1960 onwards, he travels and develops a passion for Japan and the Zen spirit. It all began with the war, which brought him to France. Incorporated into the 11th armored division, he took part in the 1944 landings near Cherbourg. For this native of the Pacific coast, open to wide open spaces and turned towards the Far East, the call was permanent. Pierre Restany saw him as a representative of what he called "imaginary spaces". Influenced by Tobey, Koenig shares with his compatriot an inclination for Oriental spirituality, expressed through gestures whose primary impulse is dictated by emotion. A painting by Koenig is rooted in silence and belongs to this Zen space, tangible and imaginary. The artist has never renounced the traditional means of painting. His lyricism accentuates the horizontal-vertical inversion that opens up space to the "unlimited". His forty years in France make John-Franklin Koenig a key figure on the French art scene in the second half of the 20th century.