Here is a painting that is perfectly in tune with its time, the immediate post war period. I''ve come to find the 1940s one of the most fascinating periods in art history: the art is so very much ALIVE, so strong, so powerful, almost savage, as if to defy the horrors of war.It was a time when abstraction became mainstream, and the particular interest of Marcel Pouget is that he remained figurative, while creating something radically new and relevant to a changed society.Pouget''s art is not shy and retiring: just like the formidable lady in a red armchair he depicts here, who clearly is claiming her place. He names her ''l''Orane'' - meaning she comes from Oran in Algeria - and she reminds me of a Queen of Spades... or of a queen full stop.Marcel Pouger was born and raised in colonial Algeria and studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Oran. He managed to continue his studies in Paris in 1946, aged 23, thanks to sponsorship from collectors convinced by his talent.He only made brief appearances at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris however, preferring to spend time with the avant-garde artists of his time. He was close, notably, to those with ties to the international artistic movement such as Alechinsky, Appel and Lindstr�m.Back home in Oran in 1947, it is said that Pouget disconcerted his provincial patrons with his modern, audacious style. Although Marcel Pouget is attached to the expressionist movement of the new figuration, he quickly finds his own style. Colour is at the heart of his expressionist language. His figures are surrounded by a powerful line.The work presented here is part of the works painted in Algeria before Pouget''s returned to Paris for his first exhibition in the metropolitan France. The painting is a child of its time: painted on salvage reclaimed materials, the canvas, crinkled around the edges, heaves under the weight of thick impasto.Marcel Pouget had solos shows and participated in group exhibitions in Fran...