models. He first met him in Ulm during his stay at the Hochschule für Gestaltung, on a visit to Almir Mavignier. His 1954-1962 work Rote Strahlung, a square balanced on its tip, is a good illustration of the way in which he transposed elements of Neo-plasticism into minimalist language. Max Bill had been a pupil of László Moholy-Nagy at the Bauhaus in Dessau, where he played a vital role due to his desire to unite art and technique, as witnessed by the precision and impeccable execution of a water-colour painted in 1923. The same spirit and the same rendition are to be found in the work of German artist Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart, also a member of De Stijl, a companion of Kurt Schwitters and guest professor in Ulm. In the 1950’s , Victor Vasarely played a major role in France and at the Galerie Denise René, notably as the forerunner of Kinetic art. His work entitled Antares R (1963) is a good example of his technique founded on contrasts, the transformation and inversion of shapes. It was thanks to his intervention that François Morellet would have his first one-man show abroad, in 1960 in Brussels. The art of Auguste Herbin (Nu, 1954) had no influence on François Morellet: one could well say quite the opposite. Morellet nevertheless paid homage to Herbin for his systematic approach and theories in a text published in 2003, on the occasion of his exhibition at the Matisse Museum in Le Cateau-Cambrésis26. As for Antonio Calderara, discovered at a late stage when he had become, from 1959, an abstract artist at the age of 56, he won over Morellet for the simplicity of his compositions and the finesse of his tone-on-tone harmonies, close to those of his own works in 1950-1951 (2 quadrati nel rettangolo, 1966). The entire picture is highly evocative of trends that were prevalent in Constructivist art and can be compared more precisely throughout the artist’s career with the exhibition organized by Max Bill27 in Zurich in 1960, entitled konkrete kunst 50 jahre entwicklung, which displayed works by all these artists in the company of François Morellet himself. Successors The Galerie Catherine Issert is exhibiting works from Morellet’s last period of production, from 2010 to 2015. Principles have remained intangible: the vocabulary still consists of lines drawn in relief or comprised of neon tubes, square formats are readily tilted a few degrees to appear more lively on the walls, certain elements are applied directly onto the surface (Faut le fer n° 1, 2015), just out of the frame or comprise a diptych (Trop plein n° 1, 2013), a form often used by the artist which is a special kind of divided stretcher, like the triptych. Many themes are addressed and treated methodically: changes in direction (Virage à 25° de parallèles horizontales, 2010), variations in thickness (Confrontation n° 1, 2015), contrasts between lines and surfaces (3 trames hybrides (20°- 50°-160°), blanc, jaune, 2011), the opposition of curves and straight lines (Courbage n° 3, 2011),
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