ART CITIES: N.York-Simon Hantaï

Simon Hantaï is best known for his large, abstract canvases of profound, saturated color. Hantaï moved to France in 1949 and quickly became known throughout Europe. Informed by Jackson Pollock’s gestural abstractions, Hantaï embarked on a new method of painting that would redefine the role of the artist and restructure the approach to the picture plane. In the early 1960s, Hantaï began applying paint to folded canvases, using a systematic pliage or ‘folding method’ that resulted in irregular patterns of bold color, punctuated by strips of unprimed ground once the canvasses were unfolded and stretched.

 

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Gagosian Archive

Many of the eighteen paintings by Simon Hantaï in the exhibition, “Les blancs de la couleur, la couleur du blanc”, have not been previously exhibited. The title of the exhibition alludes to Hantaï’s use of white in several series of works—features paintings made using the artist’s “pliage” (folding) technique, in which a canvas is crumpled and knotted, painted over, and then spread out to reveal a pattern of alternations between pigment and ground. In contrast to “LES NOIRS DU BLANC, LES BLANCS DU NOIR” an exhibition of black-and-white paintings and prints dating from 1951 to 1997 that was presented at Gagosian Le Bourget in 2019–20, the current selection focuses on work distinguished by color combinations of primary and secondary colors, including blue and orange, yellow and purple, and red and green. These powerful hues had a unique significance for Hantaï, representing a link to the clothing worn by his mother on feast days—a foundational image from childhood—and reflecting his study of Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse, and Goethe’s “Theory of Colors” (1810). Hantaï began making “pliage” paintings in 1960, conceiving of the process as a synthesis of Surrealist automatism and the allover gestures of Abstract Expressionism. The technique dominated his output from this point on, and the features examples from several series executed according to its strictures. The series “Études” (1968–71) and “Blancs” (1973–74) illustrate Hantaï’s efforts to expand the white of the canvas with the addition of abstract figures generated by the folding process. The “Tabulas” series (1972–76 and 1980–82) also features such designs but regulates them through the systematicity of the works’ allover folding and monochrome coloration. Thus the loose grids of the “Tabulas” present sets of variations that embody the conjunction of intentional and incidental mark making.

Born in Bia, Hungary, in 7/12/1922, Simon Hantaï first studied at the Budapest School of Fine Art before travelling through Italy and finally settling in France in 1949. He met André Breton in 1952 and became acquainted with the Surrealist group, which influenced his artistic production during his first years in Paris. Encouraged by the Surrealists, he experienced different techniques and mediums and completed several fantastical-themed paintings. André Breton supported Hantaï and offered him his first solo show, demonstrating his support by writing the preface for his first exhibition catalogue in 1953. Hantaï encountered the work of Jackson Pollock in 1955 and became interested in action Painting and automatic writing. In disagreement with the Surrealist group, he decided to break off all ties with them and keep up with his artistic journey. His work evolved to a more abstract style, known as gestural painting. His technique consisted in painting his canvas first with vivid colors, then covering it with a darker color, and finally scraping the canvas with a tool to expose the color below. Being in constant research and experiment, he challenged again his work at the end of the 50s and gave up his violent gestures to focus on handwriting, covering the canvas with tiny inscriptions. Between 1958 and 1959, he worked almost exclusively on two major works, Pink Writing and To Galla Placidia. These works represent a turning point in his career and initiate his last major aesthetic shift. It is in 1960 that Hantaï started using the folding method systematically. The canvas was folded and crumpled before being painted and then unfolded. Only then did the painter discover his own final work, which made the result unpredictable and gave birth to abstract and poetic forms. Over the course of the following decades, he explored the folding technique with several different series, choosing each time to focus either on the color, the white areas or the geometrical repartition of the shapes. He reached the peak of his career when he was chosen to represent France during the Venise Biennale in 1982. He then chose to retire from the global artistic scene and pursue his research on his own. Simon Hantaï died in 12/9/2008.

Photo: Simon Hantaï, Tabula, 1980 Acrylic on canvas, 104 ¾ × 177 ¼ inches (266 × 450 cm), © Archives Simon Hantaï/ADAGP, Paris. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Info: Curator: Anne Baldassari, Gagosian Gallery, 980 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, USA, Duration: 27/1-25/3/2022, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-17:30, https://gagosian.com