Constructed abstraction appeared in the work of Fernand Leduc in the mid-1950s, initially in a soft-edged version that would evolve into a systemization of orthogonal structures. The straight line slants, then curves, and there is a constant quest for balance between the vibrant planes that meet and overlap. As a corollary, the conquest of kinetic mobility, often between two tones, gradually prepares the pictorial space for the later Binaires series. It was in 1962, when Leduc was living on Rue Montmartre in Paris’s 2nd arrondissement, that he would replace geometricization with the formal colour element. This was a pivotal development in the artist’s career. A kind of “soft writing” emerged with the appearance of flexible components that energized more expansive chromatic surfaces. “Abandoning, over time, the rigour of geometricization for a less structured interpenetration of colour masses, Fernand Leduc suggests the possibility of passing from one zone to the other through the introduction of curvilinear motifs whose flexibility is equalled only by the quality of the complementary chromatic relationships, with significantly more nuanced tones,” explains Michel Martin.
Vibrations sur fond vert (1962) forcefully embodies the imminent fusion of form and colour through the emergence of a red mass infiltrated from the inside and besieged from the outside by dramatic kinetic points and arcs. The composition seems to convey the possibility, or even the necessity, to fracture pictorial space into its simplest form. The format of the painting resembles the vinyl gouaches produced by Leduc the same year, bestowing an especially intimist aspect on the work. (A. L.)
