Iconic French painter of black Pierre Soulages dies at 102

Soulages possessed a quick wit and lived in the present. Asked about his work, he once joked, 'That’s tough, I almost want to tell you about what I’ll be doing tomorrow.' – Photo: AFP

French painter Pierre Soulages, an icon of post-World War II European abstract art famed for his use of black, has died, according to the Soulages Museum in his hometown of Rodez. He was 102.

Soulages became highly influential for his reflections of black, which he called "noir-lumiere,” or "black-light,” and was seen as France’s greatest living painter in recent years.