Simon Hantaï

The Hungarian-born French abstractionist came to his adopted country shortly after World War II, and his work betrays traces of the significant movements from the early postwar era, including late Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and Art Informel. His paintings are distinguished by his signature technique (which he called “pliage”), a form of tie-dye that creates pronounced interplays between positive and negative space, resulting in an overall compositional effect that feels as botanical as it is geometric. The selection here comprises never-before-seen works.