Perrotin

A06 / Paris, France / Hong Kong

+852-3758-2180
Hongkong@perrotin.com
https://www.perrotin.com/

Hans Hartung (b. 1904 in Leipzig, Germany, d. 1989 in Antibes, France) achieved international recognition as a seminal figure of art informel, which arose in France during World War II. Beyond the apparent spontaneity of his distinctively bold and almost calligraphic gestural abstraction, rationalism equally informed his style, which arose out of an early interest in the relationship between aesthetics and mathematics—particularly the harmony of the golden ratio—but also out of necessity: early in his career, he meticulously squared up his successful abstract sketches in order to reproduce them on larger canvases, which he could not afford to risk losing to improvisation. The Grand International Prize for Painting, which he won at the 1960 Venice Biennale, marked a decisive turn in his practice. Hartung began improvising directly onto canvas and experimenting with new media, namely fast-drying acrylic and vinyl paints, as well as scraping and spraying techniques. The quest for balance between spontaneity and perfection remained at the core of Hartung’s painterly aesthetics until the end of his life, in 1989.

During his career, Hartung had the opportunity to work with engraving and lithography, experimenting with a variety of tools, media and processes. This led to his innovation of repurposing lithographic ink rollers. He began using ink rollers to apply acrylic on different media (canvas, isorel, cardboard) and even had his assistants make their own rollers of various sizes in order to work on all types of formats. Here, the hand moves one of the parts of the machine, giving it a new sensitivity. In these works made with ink rollers, verticality dominates. The flat painted areas stand straight or diagonally, cutting the surface into colored slices. Here too, Hartung plays with his palette. The three canvases (T1971-R12, T1975-K31, and T1976-R39) built on links between blue and yellow or orange, are perfect examples of the audacity of this period. Another example, T1976-H44, is like an urban landscape at sunset with its three vertical black bands cut on a very subtle gradient. On the other hand, in T1975-K36, the bands fragment into large juxtaposed marks, almost totemic, images of a new sign. Signs are always present in this series and they coexist with the marks of the rollers, showing that despite his technical innovations, Hartung's work is one of continuity.