Ellsworth Kelly revolutionary emphasis on pure abstractive forms and innovative treatment of color reshaped the practice of painting in the late 1940s and early 1950s. His approach greatly influenced the nascence of Pop Art, Minimalism, Color Field precipitating the decline of expressionist energetic gestures and the adoption of spare lines and geometries, flatly painted in vivid color.
A sharp observer of the natural world from a young age inspired by the play of light, space and color in the architecture around him, Ellsworth’s use of found compositions was a source of endless inspiration and lifelong artistic openness which he translated into visually powerful multi-panel paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, and photographs. 
Ellsworth Kelly nurtured a special relationship with France. After serving as a soldier in the liberation of the country at the end of the Second World War, Kelly returned to live in France from 1948 to 1954, and returning to the country regularly throughout his life. 
He befriended Picasso, Calder, Brancusi, Arp and familiarised himself the works of Matisse, Monet and geometric abstraction which would influence his painting, particularly in his quest for balance and intensity of feeling.

Ellsworth Kelly, Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, Reliefs, and Sculpture. Volume One (1940 -1953), 2015
Written by Kelly scholar Yve-Alain Bois in direct collaboration with the artist, this comprehensive multivolume publication contains exhaustive documentation of each of Kelly’s paintings, sculptures, and reliefs. The catalogue includes thorough and insightful texts, high-quality images of individual works, and preparatory drawings, along with provenance information, exhibition history, and bibliographic information, creating what is sure to be an irreplaceable reference tool for institutions, collectors, and admirers.
This first volume is a stunning beginning to this extensive publication, with the subsequent volumes scheduled for release over the next several years. encompassing Kelly’s work up to his return to the United States from France in 1954, the present volume covers the artist’s formative years as a student at the school of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and as a young artist living in Paris, where he began painting the abstract forms that would later define his career.

Founded in 1926 by Christian Zervos at 14, rue du Dragon in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Cahiers d’Art encompasses a publishing house, a gallery, and a revue. The Cahiers d’Art Revue was entirely unique when it was introduced, and it still is: a revue of contemporary art defined by its combination of striking typography and layout, abundant photography, and juxtaposition of ancient and modern art.
Between the 1920s and the mid-1970s, Cahiers d’Art published ninety-seven issues of the Revue and more than fifty books on fine art and architecture, as well as the thirty-three volume catalogue raisonné of Pablo Picasso. After its acquisition and relaunch in 2012 by Staffan Ahrenberg, an editorial board comprised of Sam Keller, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Isabela Mora, and Staffan Ahrenberg was created. Cahiers d’Art has since published several new Revues and art books devoted to Ellsworth Kelly, Rosemarie Trockel, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, Thomas Schütte, Gabriel Orozco, Joan Miró, Lucas Arruda, Ai Weiwei, Arthur Jafa, Frank Gehry, Christo, and others. From the 1920s till today, Cahiers d’Art has maintained a gallery, exhibiting the artists it publishes.
Cahiers d’Art continues to fulfill its mission to be the cultural bridge between the avant-garde of Picasso, Duchamp, and Le Corbusier, and the leading artists and architects of our time.

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