Dictionary
Art informel

Informel is an abbreviation for "art informel" [French = informal art], a style primarily of painting that developed in 1945/46 as reaction to geometric abstraction prevailing in Paris in the following of the École de Paris. Informel painting emphasises the spontaneous act of painting, the unconscious side of artistic creativity. The process of painting is often more important than what comes out of it. Informel is an international style and can be subdivided into various schools. Tachism [French: "tache" = blot], Action painting, Abstract Expressionism and Art Brut [French = "raw art"] are also considered Informel. By that definition, leading exponents of Informel in the US were Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning and in France Wols, Jean Fautrier and Jean Dubuffet. In Germany Informel was at its height in the 1950s and 1960s. The leading exponents of German Informel are Hans Hartung, Emil Schumacher, Karl Fred Dahmen, K.O. Götz, Gerhard Hoehme, Hans-Jürgen Schlieker, Bernard Schultze, K. R. H. Sonderborg, Fred Thieler and Hann Trier. Groups of artists such as SPUR, WIR, Geflecht and even members of CoBrA further developed the theories of Informel.