Auguste Herbin French, 1882-1960

Auguste Herbin (1882–1960) was a French artist and a key figure in 20th-century geometric abstraction. Originally from northern France, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lille before settling in Paris at the turn of the century. Although initially close to Post-Impressionism, he gradually became interested in the new artistic developments emerging on the Parisian scene.

Herbin began prioritizing color as early as the 1900s. During this period, he frequently exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d’Automne.
Driven by this strong interest in color, he gradually gravitated toward Fauvism. From 1909 onwards, he moved closer to Cubism, particularly through his association with Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris after moving into the Bateau-Lavoir. It was during this time that he began to simplify forms and question traditional modes of representation.

It was not until the late 1910s that Herbin embarked on his first abstract period, largely encouraged by his art dealer, Léonce Rosenberg. Geometric shapes began to appear in his work, alongside polychrome reliefs that combined painting, sculpture, and architectural composition. He reached a level of maturity in his artistic exploration by the early 1920s.

However, he subsequently returned to figurative art—painting landscapes and portraits—before ultimately reverting to abstraction in the mid-1920s.
During the 1930s, Herbin dedicated himself to championing and promoting abstract art.

Between 1941 and 1943, he developed his "plastic alphabet," a system that allowed him to construct compositions based on letters and their visual and chromatic equivalents. This line of inquiry gave rise to works in which geometric elements are autonomous yet organized according to a precise system. Herbin pursued this approach until the end of his life, becoming one of the central figures of French geometric abstraction.

He died in Paris in 1960.