Press Release

From the 1950s, Arnulf Rainer was known for his radical, deliberately anti-academic approaches in an Austrian art world that was still very conservative. One of these is Übermalung, or the energetic and partial or total covering of a pre-existing image.

The set of works from the mid-70s presented in the Salon belong to this family of Übermalungen. They are photographs, mounted on wood or aluminium, which have been covered in black paint by the artist: it is almost impossible to see anything of the underlying image. The new form sometimes inspires a title: Skull, Fruit, Heap, Panel, Apron... or Rainer lets the viewer come up with their own. These small black paintings are charged with an intense dramatic and emotional potential which evokes a sort of expressionist minimalism, the slogan of which could be ‘less is more’.

Galerie Lelong & Co. has regularly exhibited Arnulf Rainer in Paris since 1985. He was born in 1929 in Baden (Austria) and since the 1980s has enjoyed international recognition. 2019 is the year of the artist’s 90th birthday, and the Albertina, a major museum in Vienna, will present from 27 September to 26 January a selection of the artist’s most important works from its collections, while the Arnulf Rainer Museum in Baden is preparing an exhibition for the end of this year.

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About the Artist

Arnulf Rainer was born in 1929 in Baden, Austria. He lives and works in Austria.

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Also Exhibiting at Galerie Lelong

About the Gallery
Galerie Lelong is located in Paris and New York. It was founded by Jacques Dupin, Daniel Lelong and Jean Frémon.

The Paris gallery has been exhibiting recent works from artists of international standing since 1981. The 1980s were notable for artists who went on to become household names, including Joan Miró, Antoni Tàpies, Francis Bacon, Louise Bourgeois, Eduardo Chillida, Paul Rebeyrolle, Pierre Alechinsky, but also for the next generation of artists: Konrad Klapheck, Jan Dibbets, Donald Judd, Robert Ryman, Richard Serra, Jannis Kounellis, Arnulf Rainer, Nicola De Maria and Jan Voss.

In the 1990s, the gallery hosted artists who represented major movements in contemporary art: Sean Scully, Günther Förg, Andy Goldsworthy, Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Antonio Saura. The gallery also increased international recognition of the work of Ana Mendieta.

Since the turn of the century, Galerie Lelong has accentuated the geographical and expressive diversity of its artists: from sculpture and objects by Jaume Plensa, David Nash, Wolfgang Laib, Kiki Smith, Rebecca Horn, Barry Flanagan to installations by Barthélémy Toguo and Lin Tianmiao, without forgetting painting, namely David Hockney, Robert Motherwell, Kate Shepherd, Nalini Malani, Nancy Spero, Juan Uslé, Leon Kossoff.

Galerie Lelong has a large publishing department which produces and distributes engravings, lithographs, digital prints and multiple objects, and collates these works in catalogues raisonnés.

It produces monumental sculptures to order for public spaces and private clients.

The gallery is present at the leading international contemporary art fairs (Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Basel Hong Kong, Fiac Paris, Frieze London, Frieze New York, Arco Madrid, Art Brussels, Expo Chicago...).

The directors of the gallery are Jean Frémon, Daniel Lelong and Patrice Cotensin in Paris and Mary Sabbatino in New York.
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Address
13 rue de Téhéran
Paris
France
Opening Hours
Tues - Fri, 10.30am - 6pm
Sat, 2pm - 6.30pm
(1)
Paris 13 rue de Téhéran
Galerie Lelong
13 rue de Téhéran, Paris, France

Opening hours
Tues - Fri, 10.30am - 6pm
Sat, 2pm - 6.30pm
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