Between 1931 and 1937, an international network based in Paris fought against fascism for artistic freedom: the Abstraction-Création, whose membership, which varied over time, eventually reached ninety artists, including Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Alexander Calder, Barbara Hepworth, and Piet Mondrian. This is the first exhibition devoted to this pioneering association since the 1970s.

As a center of the avant-garde, Paris became a last refuge as nationalist movements spread across Europe. In the absence of a genuine market for abstract art, the members of Abstraction-Création were forced to create their own structures, independent of salons and galleries. This multigenerational, liberal, progressive, and visionary group set out to bring together all the trends in non-objective art. The exhibition presents its full spectrum, from rigid compositions and purist grids to organic and dynamic forms in perpetual motion. Seven contemporary artists from around the world also bear witness to the enduring relevance of this issue.

Exhibited artists from the Abstraction-Création group:

Jean Arp, Willi Baumeister, Etienne Beothy, Max Bill, Alexander Calder, Robert Delaunay, Theo van Doesburg, Otto Freundlich, Naum Gabo, Laure Garcin, Albert Gleizes, Jean Gorin, Jean Hélion, Barbara Hepworth, Auguste Herbin, Mainie Jellett, František Kupka, Bart van der Leck, László Moholy-Nagy, Piet Mondrian, Marlow Moss, Kurt Schwitters, Henryk Stażewski, Władysław Strzemiński, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Georges Vantongerloo, Paule Vézelay, Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart.

Contemporary positions:

Rana Begum, Angela Bulloch, Daniel Buren, Imi Knoebel, Timo Nasseri, Kai Schiemenz, Beat Zoderer.