Gérard Ernest Schneider  (Swiss, 1896-1986) 

Gérard Ernest Schneider (Swiss, 1896–1986) is one of the pioneers of Lyrical Abstraction, a subsidiary faction of the Abstract Art movement in post-war France championed by Schneider, Hans Hartung, and Pierre Soulages. Schneider was born in Sainte-Croix, Switzerland but moved to Paris during World War I, taking classes at the School of Decorative Arts and the School of Fine Arts. Starting in 1922, Schneider resided permanently in Paris and was an active member of the avant-garde community, participating in the Salons d’Automne, the Surindependants, and the New Realist exhibitions. In 1946, he participated in the first postwar exhibition of Abstract Art at the Denise Rene Gallery in Paris, where he exhibited his brightly colored images enriched with expressive brushstrokes, black lines, and angular forms. He continued to live and work in Paris until his death in 1986.