A precursor of contemporary art, François Morellet is acclaimed as one of the central figures of minimalism and geometric abstraction. A self-taught painter, after a short figurative period he turned to abstraction in the 1950s. His work includes painting, sculpture and light installations. Strongly influenced by Piet Mondrian, François Morellet developed what he called “protocols for the distribution of forms in the space of the canvas.” In other words, he set up a predefined system in order to produce his painting. The position of the elements on the canvas, their colour, their material, the angles of inclination are determined by a system. Thus, the painting is unpredictable because if the composition of the canvas is objective, the rule framing the system is absolutely subjective. François Morellet has the honour of being the second artist to have a work exhibited in the Louvre in his lifetime. On 27 January 2010, he inaugurated a permanent installation commissioned by the Louvre Museum: L’esprit d’escalier. His works are present in numerous public collections: MoMa, NY; Tate Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum, London ; Fondation Louis Vuitton, Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris; National galerie, Berlin.