‘Printemps’ is an exceptional example of Herbin’s colourful large scale canvases with which he challenged the status of easel painting and formed a bridge between Cubism and post-war geometric abstraction.

Herbin began his artistic career by studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lille. In 1901 he moved to Paris where he met Picasso, Braque and Gris and gradually turned from Fauvism to Cubism. Deterred by negative remarks from critics, in 1921 he reverted temporarily to a more representational style. However, this highly significant work signals the artist's return to abstraction for the first time since 1921.

In 1931 he co-founded the group Abstraction-Création with Theo Van Doesburg, Jean Helion and Georges Vantongerloo, and whose members included Piet Mondrian and Naum Gabo. Alongside these artists, Herbin created an inventive form of abstraction, defined by its pure geometric designs and rhythmically structured compositions.

‘Printemps’ comes from the artist’s alphabete plastique series which he had first developed in 1942. Alphabete plastique was a method of painting in which each letter of the alphabet corresponded to a colour, shape and musical note. The work’s bold and rich palette of colours laid out in a flat geometric composition embody Herbin’s intent to “escape from the object and to find again the word and creative action”.