We present an exhibiton by the group Abstraction-Création, an association of abstract artists founded in Paris on 15 February 1931 with the aim of promoting non-figurative art and countering the growing influence of the Surrealist movement led by André Breton. The group emerged following Theo van Doesburg’s disenchantment with his Art Concret movement and the dissolution of the Cercle et Carré group in 1931. It became one of the most important abstract art collectives of the 1930s.

Abstraction-Création eventually comprised more than 400 members of different nationalities and artistic backgrounds. Artists associated with the group included Piet Mondrian, Wassily Kandinsky, Naum Gabo, Antoine Pevsner, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Alexander Calder, Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Kurt Schwitters, El Lissitzky, Luigi Veronesi, Marlow Moss, Tarō Okamoto, Paule Vézelay, Jean Villeri, Bart van der Leck and John Wardell Power, as well as Spanish artists Luis Fernández and Julio González.

The group’s artistic language was characterised by geometric forms and rhythmically structured compositions. Between 1932 and 1936, they published the journal Abstraction-Création: Art non-figuratif and organised exhibitions throughout Europe. Although it was not a prescriptive movement, and despite the wide diversity of ideas and practices among its members, the group played a fundamental role in defending and disseminating abstract art across Europe. Even after its dissolution in 1936, Abstraction-Création continued to exert a significant influence.