Celebrated and Unsung Histories of French Abstraction

In New York, shows of French abstraction are on the increase. Yet many reprise artists known here in the distant past: Perrotin exhibited Georges Mathieu in 2021 and gave over its entire space to Hans Hartung twice in the past five years. And twice in two years Lévy Gorvy (now Lévy Gorvy Dayan) has featured Pierre Soulages.

On the other hand, Ceysson & Bénétière has annually given its Madison Avenue gallery over to one artist or another from the historical Supports/Surfaces group, who were famous in France in the years following soixante-huit but never got much exposure in the United States. These include Patrick Saytour, Louis Cane, Bernard Pagès, and this past September, Nöel Dolla — the last a good example of that group’s playful, morphological dismantling of painting and use of unconventional materials, like his tarlatan substrate.

Featured image: Christophe Verfaille, “Untitled” (November 1994–December 1996), acrylic on wood, 11 1/2 x 8 x 1/8 inches (courtesy Galerie Buchholz)

Read the original article here… and return to share your comments on artistvenu below