The artist who never theorized his work explains "The reality of a work is the triple rapport that it creates between the thing that it is, the one that has produced and whoever looks at it. This statement necessarily challenges the philosopher Alain Badiou introducing these writings by this statement : "The philosopher that I am has every reason to be wary of the judgment of Pierre Soulages".

Alain Badiou offers his reading of the work of Soulages through 8 fragments took from the communication on January 22, 2010 at the international conference "Pierre Soulages", organized at the Centre Pompidou. The text is completed with reproductions in color works of three works of the artist.

The relationship Badiou-Soulages illustrates the dialogue between French thought and painting, a link between art and knowledge.