Literature: Georges Richar-Rivier: “Deyrolle. Catalogue raisonné oeuvre peint 1944–1967”, Paris, 1992, No. 56.02, reproduced pp. 170.

Provenance: Previously in the collection of Verner Nielsen, Copenhagen.

Jean Deyrolle was a central figure in the circle around Galerie Denise René and played an important role in the development of abstract-concrete painting in post-war Paris. In the late 1940s Galerie Denise René became the touchstone between the French and Danish artists in the gallery, which also had a connection to Linien II. In 1948, Denise René exhibited 9 French artists, including Deyrolle, in Tokantens Kunsthandel, and for Linien II's second exhibition in the same year at Den Frie Udstillingsbygning, Deyrolle was among four invited French guests, all associated with Galerie Denise René. The natural connection and exchange between Danish and international names confirmed Linien II's stated ambition; to be “the connection to the contemporary movements in the artworld”. At the beginning of the 1950s, Deyrolle turned his love to the tempera technique, which is most often associated with Italian frescoes from the Renaissance. The shift from traditional oil painting becomes almost total from 1953 and onwards. The slightly transparent and light-reflecting quality of the tempera becomes a hallmark of Deyrolle's color surfaces, and is characteristic of his best works from the period. “Agréve” from 1955–56 is a prime example of one of Deyrolle's tempera works from one of the artist's most luminous, inspired periods.