Simon Hantaï at the Ludwig Museum, Budapest

Ludwig Museum - Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest

SIMON HANTAI When: May 8 - August 31, 2014 Simon Hantaï was born in 1922 in Biatorbágy, nearby Budapest, Hungary; studied at the Hungarian College of Fine Arts (today Hungarian University of Fine Arts) under Vilmos Aba Novák and Béla Kontuly. As a student of exceptional talent, he was granted a scholarship by the Hungarian Academy in Rome. Following his sojourn in Italy, the young artist Hantai emigrated to France in 1948, together with his wife, Zsuzsanna, also a painter.  After a short period of Surrealism, Hantai was influenced by Abstract Expressionism, then, from the 1960’s onwards, he worked out a unique image-making technique (the so-called pliage). He created a very special abstract pattern on the canvas surface by folding and painting it. He was inspired by the results of Pollock’s free and independent painting technique as well as research done by French painters on problems of light, colour and surface. In the beginning of the 1980’s he gave up painting, and voluntarily withdrew into “exile”.  In 2013, more than three decades after Hantaï’s first retrospective exhibition, the Centre Pompidou organised a monumental show on Hantaï’s life and work. Continuing the line, this comprehensive exhibition in Budapest will be the first in Hungary to present works by the world famous artist to the wider public with the intention to represent every period and all main aspects of Hantai’s oeuvre. The exhibition will be realised in cooperation with Hantai’s heirs and will include several artworks that have never been on public display before. (Click on the image for details)