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This brief portfolio shows an overview of the major developments in Hantaï's work and was produced by the Paul Rodgers / 9W gallery in New York City. "Simon Hantaï (1922-1908) was an artist of legendary reclusion. He nevertheless holds almost mythical status in the French art world and a major position in the Pompidou Center’s account of post-World War Two art. Hantaï represented France at the Venice Biennial in 1982. ... The technique of painting he invented, called ‘the folding method’, pointed the way towards the ‘Process’ aesthetic of 1970’s art." - PR
Citation preview
Simon Hantaï
o e u v r e The Folding Method
1960-1995
Paul Rodgers/9W Gallery 5 2 9 We s t 2 0 t h S t r e e t , 9 t h F l o o r , N e w Yo r k , N Y 1 0 0 1 1 - t e l : 2 1 2 . 4 1 4 . 9 8 1 0
www.paulrodgers9w.com
Cloaks 1960-1962
Meuns 1967-1968
Studies 1969-1971
Watercolors 1971-1973
Whites 1973-1974
1st - Tabulas 1974-1976
2nd - Tabulas 1980-1982
Leftovers 1981-1995
Cloak (M.A. 3), 1960, oil on canvas, 108.3 x 77.3 in. / 275.1 x 196.3 cm Musée d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Blue Meun, 1967, oil on canvas, 96.5 x 87 in. / 245.1 x 221 cm Private Collection
Study, 1969, oil on canvas, 101.9 x 88.6 in. / 258.8 x 225 cm Musée d’art moderne de la ville Paris, Paris
Untitled, 1971, watercolor on canvas, (22.4 x 17.3 in. / 57 x 44 cm)Private Collection
White, 1973, oil on canvas, 92 x 92 in. / 233.7 x 233.7 cm Private Collection
Tabula, 1974, oil on acrylic on canvas, 110.7 x 211.8 in. / 281.2 x 538 cm Musée d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Tabula, 1980, acrylic on canvas, 112.4 x 178.9 in. / 285.6 x 454.5 cm. Musée d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Leftover, 1981, acrylic on canvas, 80.8 x 68.3 in. / 205.2 x 173.5 cm Private Collection
Simon Hantaï (1922-1908) was an artist of legendary reclusion. He nevertheless holds almost mythical status in the French art world and a
major position in the Pompidou Center’s account of post-World War Two art.
As commentators over the years have pointed out, beginning with André Breton, Hantaï was a fiercely independent artist, motivated above all by an ethical reflection
on art. Throughout his career he insisted on the aesthetic primacy of art over its commercialization. This defense of art’s integrity obliged Hantaï to live in self-imposed
isolation yet he saw his work as deeply engaged with the world.
Hantaï explored the aesthetic of Abstract Expressionism with original, major work in the 1960’s, when the consensus was that it would be impossible to
make significant painting after Pollock. He also refuted the ‘formalist’ criticism of abstract painting, insisting instead that art must contain vital intellectual content.
The technique of painting that he invented, called ‘the folding method’, pointed the way towards the ‘Process’ aesthetic of 1970’s art, thus allowing Hantaï’s thinking to
encounter and make common cause with that of American avant-garde land artist and theorist Robert Smithson.
Hantaï exhibited regularly in Paris with his long-time dealer Jean Fournier, first at the Galérie Kléber, and then at the Galérie Jean Fournier. Hantaï also had
numerous museum exhibitions in France, notably his mid-career survey at the Musée d’art moderne, that would later become the Centre Georges Pompidou.
Hantaï represented France at the Venice Biennial in 1982.
The Centre Georges Pompidou is the largest repository of Hantaï’s work with over thirty major paintings. In 1988, the artist made a donation of five additional
paintings to the Musée d’art moderne de le ville de Paris which occasioned an exhibition with a catalogue. The following year Hantaï agreed to show his late work titled,
‘The Leftovers,’ at a private art foundation in Paris. The same year he also showed a selection of works spanning the folding method, 1960-1995, with a catalogue, at the
Westfalisches Landesmuseum in Münster, Germany, carefully overseen by the artist.
After this last show, Hantaï returned to his life of seclusion and maintained public silence until his death. His last years were partly occupied by a joint endeavor
with the leading French philosophers of the day, first Gilles Deleuze, and later Jaques Derrida and Jean-Luc Nancy with whom he published a book,
La connaissance des textes, which serves as a postscript to his oeuvre.
- Paul Rodgers
For more information about Simon Hantaï’s life and work, please contact
Paul Rodgers/9W Gallery 5 2 9 We s t 2 0 t h S t r e e t , 9 t h F l o o r , N e w Yo r k , N Y 1 0 0 1 1 - t e l : 2 1 2 . 4 1 4 . 9 8 1 0
www.paulrodgers9w.com