Jean Hélion was a French artist known for his use of controlled color relationships and bold curving lines. He worked with both non-objective and figurative painting over the course of his career, often straddling the two. “I understand abstract art as an attempt to feed imagination with a world built through the basic sensations of the eyes,” he once reflected. Born on April 21, 1904 in Couterne, France, Hélion studied chemistry at l'Institut Industriel du Nord in Lille but never completed his degree. In 1921, he moved to Paris, working as an architect’s assistant and frequenting the Louvre. While visiting the museum, he encountered the works of Nicolas Poussin and determined to switch courses and become a painter...