Simon Hantaï: Five Major Works from the Jean Fournier Collection to Lead Drouot Estimations’ Sale

The highlight of the sale is a group of five monumental paintings by Simon Hantaï from the former collection of gallerist Jean Fournier. Four of the five works will be offered at auction for the first time. Executed between 1956 and 1970, they chart the extraordinary breadth of Hantaï’s practice and offer a rare insight into the development of one of the most important painters of the second half of the 20th century.

Among the highlights are three paintings dating from one of the least familiar and most intriguing periods of Hantaï’s career: the years immediately following his departure from Surrealism, which had played an important role in his work during the 1950s. In 1955, Hantaï broke decisively with the movement and embarked on a period of radical experimentation, challenging established notions of painting and exploring new ways of engaging with the physical properties of the medium.

Still rarely seen on the market, these works have never before been brought together in a single auction. They form a particularly significant chapter of the collection. At the time, Hantaï was deeply influenced by Jackson Pollock and was developing an intensely physical, gestural approach to abstraction, working the surface with broad, forceful movements of the scraper.

These paintings belong to a pivotal moment in Hantaï’s career, just before the radical investigations that would establish him as a leading figure of French abstraction. They also shed light on the experiments that paved the way for the celebrated Sexe-prime. Hommage à Jean-Pierre Brisset, now in the collection of the Centre Pompidou, offering a rare glimpse into the process through which Hantaï developed his distinctive visual language.
 

When Jean Fournier opened his gallery on rue du Bac in Paris in 1963, it quickly became a place where artists could experiment freely and exchange ideas. Fournier was among the first Parisian gallerists to show American artists who had come to France under the G.I. Bill, the post-war programme funded by the United States. Hantaï, himself a passionate admirer of American art, introduced Fournier to Sam Francis and Joan Mitchell, as well as to Jean Paul Riopelle, who was connected to the group through his relationship with Mitchell.

For Fournier, art was above all a process of discovery and an ongoing exchange of ideas. His relationship with the artists he represented was founded on a deep intellectual and aesthetic dialogue. A forward-looking advocate for contemporary art, he worked tirelessly to promote their practices and bring them to a wider audience, playing a decisive role in establishing their international reputations.

Their meeting proved transformative for both men. Hantaï introduced the young gallerist to a new artistic vision, while Fournier became one of the painter’s most steadfast supporters, remaining closely associated with his career throughout his life.

The sale extends beyond Hantaï, bringing together works by many of the leading artists associated with the Fournier gallery, including Marie Abbott, James Bishop, Jean Degottex, Marcelle Loubchansky, Bernard Piffaretti, Judit Reigl and Claude Viallat.

The selection also features paintings by Valerio Adami, Karel Appel, Étienne Beöthy and Erró, alongside design works by Pierre Chapo, Jean Dunand, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand. All come from private collections.