French artist Jean Hélion was one of the pioneers of abstraction which he introduced to America in the 1930s, before evolving into a personal representation at the dawn of the Second World War. Having returned to France after the war and praised in the 1960s by the new generation of Narrative Figuration painters such as Gilles Aillaud or Eduardo Arroyo, Jean Hélion exhibited in numerous exhibitions in French and international galleries and institutions during his lifetime. Despite his importance and singularity, his work remains little known to the general public today. 120 years after his birth, the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris is offering a retrospective exhibition on Jean Hélion which brings together more than 150 works (103 paintings, 50 drawings, notebooks and abundant documentation), rarely presented to the public, coming from the main French and international institutions as well as numerous private collections.
