Maurice Perrenoud, Hypnose d'une Ombre, Oil on Board Abstract Painting, 1960s

Attributed to Swiss painter and sculptor Maurice Perrenoud, Hypnose d’une Ombre, 1960s emerges as a quiet yet charged composition.

Executed in oil on board, the surface carries a palpable sense of movement, as if the image has been worked, reconsidered, and allowed to settle over time. Fields of deep black and muted charcoal dominate, their density interrupted by passages of olive green and pale, almost chalk-like whites. These elements do not resolve into a fixed form; instead, they suggest presence through absence, evoking something glimpsed rather than fully seen.

The composition resists symmetry. A vertical, attenuated line cuts through the darker mass, acting less as a divider than as a moment of tension, a pause within the field. Around it, the paint shifts in texture and opacity, revealing areas where the brush has pressed, lifted, or dragged across the surface. These traces remain visible, forming a record of the artist’s hand and the rhythm of its movement.

There is an ambiguity at the core of the work. The darker expanse feels almost architectural in its weight, while the green passages introduce a more organic, unstable energy. Together, they create a dialogue between solidity and dissolution, as though the image is caught between forming and fading.

The black walnut frame provides a measured boundary, its warmth offering a subtle counterpoint to the cooler, more introspective tones of the painting. It does not contain the work so much as anchor it, giving definition to something inherently fluid.

Perrenoud’s practice often moved between painting and sculpture, and that sensibility is evident here. The composition carries a spatial awareness, where depth is implied through layering and contrast rather than perspective. The surface becomes almost tactile, inviting a slower reading.

What distinguishes this piece is its restraint. It does not seek to declare itself, but to unfold gradually. Light plays across the varied textures, revealing new relationships within the composition over time. In this way, the work remains active, never entirely fixed.

Placed within a space, Hypnose d’une Ombre offers a quiet intensity. It does not dominate, but it holds attention, drawing the viewer inward through nuance, shadow, and the lingering trace of gesture.