M 69, Monochrome blanc
1958
Painting, 100 x 50 cm.
Materials: Pure pigment, synthetic resin and coating on glued canvas, nailed on plywood
Collection: Centre Pompidou MNAM/CCI, Paris (Inv. no. AM 1985-16).
In Milan Verheyen expands his international
network. When he exhibits at the Galleria Pater
in 1958, Piero Manzoni walks in carrying white
paintings. Their encounter further stimulates
Verheyen’s musings about monochromy and
achromy. It is during this period that he writes
his manifesto Essentialisme (Essentialism).
His theories are closely related to those of artists
such as Günther Uecker, Otto Piene, Hermann
Goepfert, Lucio Fontana and Yves Klein. The latter,
for example, initially works in achrome white
before pursuing his famous blue pigment. In letters,
Klein and Verheyen debate the invention and
objectives of monochrome and achrome painting.
