Georges Mathieu - Geste, vitesse, mouvement

In March-April 1971, Georges Mathieu (Boulogne-sur-Mer, 1920 - Boulogne-Billancourt, 2012), then at the height of his fame, presented his Medals and Paintings in the historic salons of the Monnaie de Paris at the invitation of its director, Pierre Dehaye. Collaborating with the institution since 1967, Mathieu had just created an exceptional series of medals struck in vermeil, silver, and bronze, commemorating Eighteen Moments of Western Consciousness. More than 50 years after this event, the Monnaie de Paris, this time in association with the Centre Pompidou, is organizing a new exhibition in the same spaces dedicated to Georges Mathieu, juxtaposing his pictorial work with his numerous creations for the Monnaie de Paris. Among these, the 10-franc coin-nearly 700 million of which circulated between 1974 and 1987-remains his most emblematic production. No other painter, at any time, has so profoundly shaped the visual environment of his contemporaries. His abstract imagery, which became his signature style, was not only expressed in paintings but also across all modern media-from posters to television credits, as well as coins and medals-while he himself crafted an extraordinary public persona.