The name Vingt jeunes peintres de tradition française comes from an exhibition that took place at the Galerie Braun in Paris on May 10, 1941. It was the first manifestation of French avant-garde painting during the German occupation, held without authorization, which is why it is poorly documented, but acquired a mythical status. The exhibition brought together important artists who developed non-objective painting less than ten years later. During and immediately after World War II, they worked in a style they considered both modern and typically French. The name of the exhibition probably served more to invoke the figurative art of the traditional masters, as modern tendencies were given the ban of degenerate art by the Nazis.
