The story of an iconic work by Claude Rutault, realized for the opening of the MAMCO, Geneva, in 1994 and reactivated more than a dozen times since then.
Marie-Hélène Breuil (1962-2016), specialist of Claude Rutault's oeuvre, was Professor of History of Art, Conservation-restoration of sculpture Department, EPCC Ecole supérieure des beaux-arts TALM Site de Tours.
Since 1973, the French conceptual painter Claude Rutault (1941-2022) has used a simple method to create new artworks, using statements which he calls "definitions/methods", later abbreviated to "d/m", then, more recently "dm". A definition/method is a text, describing a procedure that makes it possible to realize a painting by the artist.
Using the original statement: "a canvas, stretched on a frame, painted the same colour as the wall on which it is hung", Claude Rutault has produced a large body of written work which argue for the specific nature of painting through an analysis of its materiality, its history and its different functions.
