In 1950 Colette Allendy exposes the artists from the Madi group in her Paris gallery, at the same time as the sculptor Roger Desserprit. Everyone is talking about the "section d'or", this rule of using equilibrium in the proportions of an artistic composition. Many painters are moving towards the esthetics of spatial composition. As a matter of fact, the manifesto of the "Groupe Espace" emphasizes that sculpture must be functional, and occuring in real space. Jean Claude Libert who met Albert Gleizes in Provence as early as 1949, was interested in the section d'or before they met. The rules which govern the architecture of an abstract painting must follow inner rhythms, expressing the feelings of one's inner faith. Gleizes spoke of "the _expression of what is sacred in contemporary relevance;". Libert will illustrate this search but by his own writings. Following his new research on the difraction of light into zones of color and geometric forms, his paintings will already enroll themselves in the search for Shape, color, light. Shape and color must lead towards light. The sum of these three fundamental rules will open the way for his shift to abstract art. Discovering the philosophy of Lanza del Vasto, poet and christian mystic, the painter begins to express his need for spirituality through his art.

Translated by Jean Patrick LIBERT