FRANÇOIS MORELLET

Tired of hearing some of my works made at the beginning of the 1950s classified as ‘pretty’, as is true somehow of a rather small size, I recently decided to enlarge eleven of these paintings which were all made in the year 1952. It was at first mainly to see how it would look!

—François Morellet

The present work, from 2006, reinterprets a composition from the first year of François Morellet’s career. 52 x 4 n°11 Quand j’étais petit, je ne faisais pas grand (d’après “Lignes grises et noires”, 1952) (52 x 4 n°11 When I Was Little, I Didn’t Look Big [from “Gray and Black Lines”, 1952]) is an enlargement of the seminal 1952 painting Lignes grises et noires, which measures 40 x 70 cm. The present painting is exactly four times larger. Morellet has reinterpreted Lignes grises et noires by painting sawtooth curves in alternating lines of gray and black on a white ground—creating a dynamic, decentered composition that activates its space and plays off the rectangular format of his scaled-up support.

FRANÇOIS MORELLET
52 x 4 n°11 Quand j’étais petit, je ne faisais pas grand (d’après “Lignes grises et noires”, 1952)
2006
Acrylic on canvas mounted on wood
63 x 110 1/4 inches (160 x 280 cm)
© François Morellet / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris