Richard Mortensen

In 1946, Auguste Herbin organized an exhibition of constructive art at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles in Paris. The exhibition marked a breakthrough for geometric art.
Around the same time, articles and books began to be published describing concrete art. Artists such as Sonia Delaunay, Jean Gorin, Antoine Pevsner, and Auguste Herbin gained international attention and went on to have a significant influence on the contemporary art scene.
In addition to the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, Galerie Denise Renée in Paris became perhaps even more important for "geometric abstraction." Madame Renée gathered international artists, including Victor Vasarely, and Serge Poliakoff, along with many Scandinavians such as Olle Baertling, Christian Berg, Arne Jones, Olle Bonniér, Lennart Rodhe, and Robert Jacobsen, and Richard Mortensen. Within this circle, Richard Mortensen quickly emerged as a leader of the group and the art movement. Geometric forms became the basis for the movement, which also incorporated various organic and crystalline shapes. After World War II, Richard Mortensen's style evolved, with details giving way to geometric forms, and compositions characterized by large color fields with bold, delineating lines. "Helène," created in 1956, is a typical work for Mortensen, featuring strong pink hues contrasting with yellow. The intensity of colors and the refined language of composition have roots in the Russian Constructivism of the early 20th century, as well as the art of Bauhaus, Fernand Léger, and Piet Mondrian's strict compositions. Richard Mortensen is well-represented in the world's museum collections, with the largest collection at the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen. Several significant works hang at the Louisiana Museum, and Trapholts Museum in Kolding also houses a substantial collection.