Daily Management Review

Simon Hantaï, the Centenary Exhibition at the Louis Vuitton Foundation


07/13/2022


The Louis Vuitton Foundation kept its promise that the exhibition celebrating the centenary of the birth of Simon Hantaï (1922-2008) would be an event.



by Henri Guette

Simon Hantaï, Tabula, [Paris], 1980, acrylic on canvas, 297 x 266 cm/116.92 x 104.72 in, private collection. © Archives Simon Hantaï/ADAGP, Paris 2022 © Fondation Louis Vuitton/David Bordes
Simon Hantaï, Tabula, [Paris], 1980, acrylic on canvas, 297 x 266 cm/116.92 x 104.72 in, private collection. © Archives Simon Hantaï/ADAGP, Paris 2022 © Fondation Louis Vuitton/David Bordes
The retrospective, which compliments the 2013 show at the Centre Pompidou, takes a fresh look at his work and pays him tribute in good company. To situate Hantaï's best-known works in his time and contemporary discussions, curator Anne Baldassari hung a Jackson Pollock opposite the 1950s Expressionist paintings and a Matisse  across from the first folded canvases. She also recalls the bonds that connected Hantaï to Daniel Buren and Michel Parmentier, asking the former to create an in situ homage that accompanies visitors throughout the exhibition pathway, which follows Frank Gehry’s architecture. Click here to read more.