The exhibition collects more than a hundred works including paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs and collages
The Louis Vuitton Foundation is hosting an unprecedented retrospective of the Ellsworth Kelly (1923-2015) work, author of minimalist and reflective works with pure shades applied in large monochrome backgrounds.
On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the American artist, “Ellsworth Kelly. Formes et Couleurs, 1949-2015” is the first exhibition in France to illustrate the work in such a wide way. Organized with the Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland, in collaboration with the Ellsworth Kelly Studio, and with the loan of numerous institutions and private collections, the exhibition brings together more than a hundred paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, and collages.
TEN YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH, THE WORKS STILL EXERCISE THE SAME FASCINATION EVEN BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF PAINTING
The exhibition traces the artist’s exploration of the relationship between form, colour, line, and space through the crucial periods of his career. The diversity of the works, presented on two floors of the building, invites us to overcome the deceptive simplicity of Ellsworth Kelly’s monochromes and to appreciate a poetics of surprising vitality and richness.
KELLY IS THE ARTIST OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SHAPE, COLOUR, LINE AND SPACE
Notable works in the exhibition include early paintings such as *Tableau Vert* (1952), the first monochrome made after Ellsworth Kelly’s visit to Giverny, or *Painting in Three Panels* (1956), presented alongside the more mature achievements of the 70’s: the *Chatham* and *Spectrum* series. Up to the most recent monumental works such as *Yellow Curve* (1990), the first in the series of large-scale ground paintings by the artist.
Spanning seven decades, Ellsworth Kelly’s work is characterized by the independence of art from any school or artistic movement. Inspiration comes from nature and its abstraction, nothing more. Ten years after his death, his works still exert the same fascination, far beyond the boundaries of painting.
ON VIEW YOUTH PAINTINGS SUCH AS TABLEAU VERT AND PAINTING IN THREE PANELS UP TO RECENT MONUMENTAL WORKS SUCH AS YELLOW CURVE
The Louis Vuitton Foundation has the good fortune to witness it every day: its auditorium houses the latest commission created when he was still alive: the *Spectrum VIII*. Designed in dialogue with the volumes of the architecture of the museum by Frank Gehry, the artwork develops on the walls of the room, animated by a sequence of monochromes: red, yellow, blue, green, and purple, up to the curtain of the scene, where the colors blend into a chromatic embrace. Until September 9th.
