Robert Ryman. The act of looking

WRITTEN IN FRENCH

"The question is never: what to paint, but only: how to paint. »
Robert Ryman (1930-2019), American painter active in New York from the 1950s, was initially destined for a career as a musician. To earn his living he worked as a room attendant at the Museum of Modern Art, where his interest in painting grew through contact with modern European masters (Monet, Cézanne, Matisse) and new American references (Rothko, Pollock). He then devoted himself entirely to painting and took up canvas after canvas the formula of the white square, chosen for its neutrality. He thus explores everything that materially makes up a painting, from the support to the surface including the lighting or the hanging system. His painting, both open and active, interacts with the space that surrounds it and summons the gaze of the painter as much as that of the viewers.

This catalog, designed as Ryman's first monograph in French, brings together the greatest specialists of the artist and offers a renewed approach to his work.

Exhibition at the musée de l'Orangerie from March 06th to July 01st, 2024

French
144 pages

Co-publishing Actes Sud / Musée de l'Orangerie