Born in 1926, Jean Miotte began exhibiting in 1952 and continues to this day. As one of the important protagonists of Art Informel, his work is inspired by the desire of the postwar generation to create a universal human language in art, a path to peace after the horrors of war. His universality is reflected in international success: Miotte is represented in major museums in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and in 1980 he was the first Western painter invited to exhibit in post-Mao Beijing.

Miotte's seminal influences include Jazz but especially dance. In London in 1948 he did set design and saw the work of Balanchine, the Diaghilev Ballet, and the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas. Gestural painting can evoke the hand of the Samurai or the surgeon, but Miotte's lithe, inventive line echoes the living art of dance. When painting, he becomes a Zen archer, choreographing each stroke before the act. His canvas is a stage where paint leaps, where drips refuse gravity.

Miotte experiments in media ranging from oil and acrylic to gouache, ink, etching, lithography, and collage. Black paint on a white or raw surface is a nearly constant theme which recalls calligraphy; when color appears, it ranges from primaries to earthy tones. Critics say he is unique among the Informels because he continues to grow, fighting repetition, questioning himself and his form of expression. In the 1990s he began producing the canvases currently on display, the largest of his career.

The Miotte Foundation, housed in the Chelsea Art Museum, preserves the oeuvre of Jean Miotte and fosters research into the Informel movement.