Three episodes have already been dedicated to great abstract painters: Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, Ana Eva Bergman and, Aurélie Nemours. This fourth episode, dedicated to Geneviève Asse, is broadcast a couple of weeks after she passed away in August. She was 98. A pioneer of abstraction, she had to wait to be 40 for her work to be shown regularly in galleries, 65 for an exhibition in a Parisian museum (at the Modern Art Museum), and 90 to get a retrospective of her work at the Pompidou Centre. Here is an occasion to listen again to her clear an airy voice, simultaneously precise and poetic, just like her direct, efficient almost monochromatic painting style (even though this is a term she rejected).

The podcast Great Women of Art gives a voice to women artists of the 20th century. They speak about their work, their lives, the world around them and their achievements. Let us go in search of their presence, their secrets. Let us rediscover the hidden history of women artists through their voices.Great Women of Art is a podcast produced by AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions, in collaboration with the Institut national de l’audiovisuel, with the support of Maison Veuve Clicquot and the Ministry of Culture’s Délégation à la transmission, aux territoires et à la démocratie culturelle. 

AWARE is a non-profit organization co-founded in 2014 by Camille Morineau.

Coordinated by: Mathilde de Croix and the AWARE team
Directed by: Élodie Royer
Music by: Juliano Gil
Credits: Andrew Nelson
Sound Editing: Basile Beaucaire
Research Advisors: Catherine Gonnard and Marjorie Micucci
Translation: Beth Gordon
French Voice: Camille Morineau
English Voice: Lou Doillon
Translation of the Artist’s Voice: Eve Dayre

Illustration : Fanny Michaëlis, Geneviève Asse, 2021
© Fanny Michaëlis