Jean-Marie Haessle "In The Corner Of My Eye"

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Jean-Marie haessle December 14, 2010 - january 15, 2011

In the corner of my eye

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Cover and right:

Red II, 2010

oil on canvas

66” x 66”

Jean-marie haessle December 14, 2010 - january 15, 2011

In the corner of my eyes

David Richard Contemporary130 Lincoln avenue, Suite d, Santa fe, nM 87501 | p (505) 983-9555 | f (505) 983-1284

www.davidrichardContemporary.com | [email protected]

GalleRy DirectoRs

david eichholtz & richard Barger

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at the outset, here are two issues i find

consistently present in the paintings of

Jean-Marie haessle: one, he is an indelible

Classicist as much as Poussin or ingres; and

secondly, he carries a certain propensity for

concealing his Classical posture in paintings

that express often unexpected, yet exuber-

ant varieties of color. in doing so, haessle

persuades some viewers that he is, in fact,

the opposite of a Classicist, namely a die-

hard romantic. i have chosen to keep the

capital letters in either case simply to sug-

gest that what stands behind these two

stylistic tendencies, which i believe vacil-

late through the paintings of haessle, is es-

sentially the history of Salon painting from

the late eighteenth into the mid-nineteenth

century. this was the fertile period of Salon

de Paris decades before its decline became

evident in the late nineteenth century soon

after the suppression of the Commune in

1872. this decline was accompanied by the

slanderous accusations of a socially insouci-

ant painter, gustave Courbet, who insisted

that his art did not require the sanction of

any institution to prove its worth. thus, his

pronounced individuality revealed the first

tremolos of Modernism seeking liberation

from an overtly ingested and decadent

cultural hierarchy. through the rejection of

the latter, the heraldic and radical lineage

of abstract painting came to emerge as the

avant-garde of the twentieth century.

While this history has little to do with has-

sele’s conscious intentions as an artist, giv-

en that he has spent the greater part of his

career as a mature painter living and work-

ing in the Soho section of Manhattan, i find

it curious that the artist discovered painting

as an adolescent in the northeastern region

of france where he could not have missed

some of the history pertaining to the direc-

tion in which his own paintings would finally

emerge.

if i were to name a third issue in hassle’s

paintings, i would cite the artist’s seamless

equivocation between his use of figura-

tion and abstract subject matter. in saying

this, i am implying that his technical gifts

Robert C. Morgan is trained both as a sculpture and art historian. Author of many books

and essays, he is largely recognized for his art criticism. In 1999, he was given the first

Arcale award in Salamanca (Spain) for his work as an international critic. He is a prolific

writer, a dedicated teacher, an global lecturer, and continues to produce and exhibit his

paintings.

Lyrcical chromatic paintings by Jean-marie haessle

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in both painting and drawing are consid-

erable. they were acquired not through

formal Classical training, but derived from

a remarkable, nearly alchemical sense of

observation. haessle’s desire to see and

to study a painting constitutes a veritable

act of passion, which is the inevitable force

behind a searing energy in which he con-

centrates on form and color. no matter how

high or low the degree of abstraction, the

artist manages to refine every mark within

the structure of his brushwork. the phe-

nomenon sensed within the mind’s eye is

clearly revealed in the act of painting. this

tendency multiplies through the artist’s

ability to infuse chromatic stillness into vast

open spaces, thus hermetically transform-

ing pigment into luminescence.

a good example would be the quadrilateral

red, Yellow, and Blue triumvirate included

in the current exhibition, perhaps the center

pieces of the show. While haessle does not

consider these paintings a triptych, he does

understand that the chromatic relationships

are integral as a thematic concern. for ex-

ample, each canvas, despite its predomi-

nant emphasis on a single primary, includes

gestural marks that represent primaries

from the other two. for example, the red

painting will contain an all-over smattering

of blue and yellow accents. Similarly, the

Blue painting will reveal traces of red and

yellow; and finally the Yellow canvas car-

ries the weight of the red and blue without

disrupting its essential all-over chromatic

dominance. the light within these paintings

is inexorable, suggesting that the artist has

discovered a method whereby the relation-

ship between value and hue function inex-

tricably as a single unit within each painting.

this is further abetted by the quadrilateral

equality of the three paintings. a rectilinear

surface would push the composition in one

direction of another, thus giving a different

tension to the relationship of the hues and

values. By employing a large square format

-- a format also used by the painter agnes

Martin, though toward achieving another

effect -- haessle contains the gestural ma-

neuvers of his brush within the surface of

the painting. Just as Mondrian employed

the square format to achieve tension and

balance, particularly in his neoplastic paint-

ings of the twenties, haessle creates a ten-

sion and balance through color. in doing so,

there is an unrepentant concentration that

enfolds the surface and keeps his eye on the

mark without deviating from the premises.

essentially these paintings are not mere-

ly about chromatic effect, but about the

control of light. often the exterior light

source may become a concern during the

presentation and installation of a painting.

But there is another internal step essential

in the completion of the work that inter-

ests haessle, namely, the matter in which

the pigmented color on the surface of the

painting holds or retains light. this, in turn,

impacts the resonance from which light

projects from the surface and the manner

that it evolves through manipulation from

one color to another. haessle knows the

process well. to control light in a painting

by making exterior adjustments intended

to correct an initial weakness or default is

rarely convincing. therefore, the artist is

required to know how color works and how

it will function as a medium in order to give

the surface its luminosity.

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haessle rides on the crest of an indignant

perception, a voracious insight, and a for-

mal and technical acuity, quietly manifest-

ed through his ultra-refined persistence to

paint light. as previously mentioned, his

origins come from the northeast area of al-

sace, where he was raised and where he dis-

covered during an adolescent illness a book

of paintings by van gogh that changed his

life. this was followed by a stint with the

french military during the algerian War,

before moving to Paris in 1964, and later

to Manhattan in 1967, where he has lived

and worked as a painter ever since. While

contemporary art in Paris occupied him for

three years, he was less intrigued by the

vestiges of art informal than by the gritty

l’art brut of Jean dubuffet and by the paint-

ings of giacometti. eventually, haessle

caught wind of the CoBra group (an ac-

ronym for expressionism emanating from

Copenhagen, Brussels, and amsterdam).

Painters, such as asger Jorn and Karel ap-

pel, were particularly popular in Paris in the

1960s, as they were eventually aligned with

the politics of the Situationists, whose ideas

were partially responsible for the uprisings

in france in 1968 against the conservative

gaullist regime.

Shortly before these events in Paris, haessle

moved to new York in order to focus on his

painting. here he witnessed something

quite different. instead of l’art brut and Co-

Bra, he found Color field painters -- artists,

such as helen frankenthaler, Ken noland,

Morris Louis, Jules olitski, Larry Poons, Paul

Jenkins, ellsworth Kelly, and sculptors, such

as anthony Caro and Michael Steiner. Many

(but not all) of these artists were known as

the american formalists of the 1960s, as

proclaimed by the critic Clement green-

berg. in general, their works were cool

and distant in their approach. the painters

paid close attention to greenberg’s “flat-

ness”, a formalist concept somewhat over-

played in the art press at the time, which

gave a certain credibility to the notion of

color as form. haessle was less concerned

in this formalist theory than in the paintings

themselves. Still, he missed the vitality of

the gesture that he first encountered in the

work of van gogh.

it was soon apparent that his defiant, yet

exhilarating use of the gesture would define

his personal stylistic evolution as a paint-

er. at the same time, one may discover in

such paintings as Crisscross (2002) and

In the Making (2005) an intricacy with the

brushwork, a quality which is also unique

in haessle’s style. the tonalities appear

slightly darker, if not more somber in Criss-

cross, yet both paintings reveal tiny strands

of white. in either case, these paintings

suggest optically moving threads, simulta-

neously being woven and unwoven, thereby

pointing in the direction of temporality as

much as space. the dense color strands are

suspended, perhaps in a state of unravel-

ing, as if the artist were in the process of

separating and reordering his thoughts in

perpetual motion, thus refining the pictorial

dimensions of the surface. another larger,

more recent painting, titled Restless (2008),

has a similar structure. the brushwork is

evenly consistent in its scale. Color is lim-

ited to the primaries plus black and white.

in Restless, it becomes clear the degree to

which haessle has mastered the application

and mix of color through calligraphy. the

effect is mesmerizing -- not in the literary or

proverbial sense, but in relation to the shear

optics of looking at a surface. the evenness

of space and the resilience of depth through

the layering of gestural loops and striations

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gives Restless a visual and mental impact

that goes beyond the ordinary. Restless is

not merely a painting one sees, but stud-

ies. it is as if one were deciphering a code

within and beneath the surface, in order to

find access to its chromatic structure. it has

been said that french impressionism, large-

ly incited by the color optics of the french

chemist henri-eugene Chevreuil, was less

about “impressions” in the vernacular sense

than it was about analyzing the objective

passage of light. this might also be said of

haessle’s Restless, from the point of view

of abstract painting, rather than a field of

poppies.

in referring to work in this exhibition as “lyri-

cal chromatic paintings” i mean the follow-

ing: Jean-Marie haessle came to new York

after abstract expressionism had already

made its mark. although Pop art was still

in flavor, it did not suit his fancy. haessle

wanted something deeper. it was no acci-

dent that two of his favorite artists whose

work he saw frequently in Paris were dubuf-

fet and giacometti. this suggests a desire

to go beneath the surface of reality as a

source of transcendence, a concept more

french than american. even so, haessle

understood that it was possible to work in

new York with color in a way that did not

express the violence and repression often

associated with the new York School. in

essence, haessle had another idea, a more

lyrical one. the challenge was how to lessen

the rancor in gestural painting without sub-

mitting to a style. he was drawn to color at

the outset. (how could one love the paint-

ings of van gogh without a strong desire to

feel color?) and so, it would appear, that

haessle rejected the despair of the histori-

cal gesture in favor of its potential lyricism

and redemption. in doing so, he retained

the subtle nuances of optimism through his

use of scale and modulation within each lay-

ering of color. While at times the work may

appear hesitant or irresolute, the paintings

of Jean-Marie haessle represent a powerful

antidote to the deeply conflicted socio-psy-

chological transition in which we find our-

selves today.

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Red II, 2010

66” x 66” oil on canvas

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yellow, 2010


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Blue, 2010


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ReStleSS, 2008


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CRISSCRoSS, 2003


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In tHe MAkIng, 2010


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untItled 1, 2010


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untItled 4, 2010


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Red, 2010


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yellow, 2010


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Blue, 2010


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gRAy, 2010


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untItled 22, 2008


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untItled 23, 2008


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AzuRe, 2007


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untItled 6, 2004


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untItled 9, 2004


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untItled 10, 2004


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Jean-Marie HaessleLives and works in new York, nY

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

2010 david richard Contemporary, Santa fe, nM USa

gallery aKa Space, Seoul Korea

2009 Kips gallery new York, nY USa

La Minoterie Penze, france

2008 galerie Claire gastaud, Clermont-ferrand, france

Kips gallery, new York, nY USa

2007 Kips gallery, new York, nY USa

2000 gallery Yvonamor Palix, Mexico df Mexico

1997 galerie gastaud & Caillard, Paris france

galerie Prebet, roanne france

galerie de la tour, altkirch france

ecole des Beaux arts de Metz, Metz france

Kunsthous Santa fe, San Miguel de allende Mexico

Museo de art, Queretaro Mexico

Museo regional de tlaxcala, tlaxcala Mexico

1996 Kim foster gallery, new York nY USa

galerie gastaud, Clermont-ferrand france


galerie gastaud & Caillard, Paris france

Center europeen d’action artistiques Contemporaines, Strasbourg france

galerie athisma, Lyon france

1994 Chateau du grand Jardin, Joinville france

1993 galerie Catherine fletcher, Paris france

1991 galerie gastaud, Clermont-ferrand france


1989 fCi institut, new York nY USa

galerie Jade, Colmar france

galerie Laurentienne, Bordeaux france

1988 galerie Lucien durand, Paris france


guggenheim gallery, Miami florida USa

1986 LittleJohn-Smith gallery, new York nY USa

1985 reynold Kerr gallery, new York nY USa

taylor hudson gallery, Boca raton florida USa

1981 gabrielle Bryers gallery, new York nY USa

1980 rr gallery, new York nY USa

1979 national academy of Sciences, Washington dC USa

the atlantic gallery, Washington dC USa

1973 Westbroadway gallery, new York nY USa

1972 Westbeth gallery, new York nY USa

1968 Panoras gallery, new York nY US

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group exhibitions:

2010 Kiaf art fair, Seoul, Korea

hon Kong art fair, Kips gallery

2009 Kips gallery, new York nY 10012

2008 Bridge art fair Miami, Kips gallery, fl. USa

2007 Kips gallery, new York nY, USa

2004 Mexico arte Contemperano, gallery Yvonamor Palix, Mexico df

2003 galerie Kahn, Strasbourg, france

2002 art Chicago, Yvonamor Palix gallery, Chicago USa

St’ art, galerie Khan, Strasbourg france

art Paris, galerie Claire gastaud, Paris france



en construccion, Universidad de guanajuato, guanajuato Mexico

nomad territories, dfn gallery, new York nY USa

1999 gallery Yvonamor Palix, Mexico df Mexico

1998 albright-Knox galleries, Buffalo nY USa




eric Linard galerie, La garde adhemar france

Museo de arte, Queretaro Mexico

1996 art Chicago, Kim foster gallery, Chicago USa

“Blue” Broadway gallery, new York nY USa

1995 galerie Cocotier, St etienne france

Centre europeen d’action artistiques Contemp., Strasbourg france


galerie Catherine fletcher, Paris france

foster-Peet gallery, new York nY USa

1993 andover-White gallery, new York nY USa


Cavaliero/navarra fine arts, new York nY USa

1992 Cavaliero/navarra fine arts, new York nY USa

“Contemporary Works on Paper” gallery Standhal, new York nY USa

foster-Peet gallery, new York nY USa

1991 Cavaliero fine arts, new York nY USa

Salon de Montrouge, Paris france

galerie Lucien durand, Paris france



galerie Jade, Colmar france

Chicago art fair, galerie Jade, Chicago USa

1988 Salon de Montrouge, Paris france

galerie Lucien durand, Paris france

1987 art Barn association, Washington dC USa

LittleJohn-Smith gallery, new York nY USa

galerie Jade Colmar france

1986 LittleJohn-Smith gallery, new York USa

1985 reynold Kerr gallery, new York nY USa.

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130 Lincoln avenue, Suite d, Santa fe, nM 87501 | p (505) 983-9555 | f (505) 983-1284

www.davidrichardContemporary.com | [email protected]

iSBn 978-0-9827872-6-7

PriCe $10.00

© 2010 david riChard ConteMPorarY, LLC

1984 reynold Kerr gallery, new York nY USa

1983 Cavaliero fine arts, Kunstmess, Basel Switzerland

galerie Bertin, Lyon france

1982 Cavaliero fine arts, Kunstmess, Basel Switzerland



1979 Katheryn Markel gallery, new York nY USa

haber-theodore gallery, new York nY USa

1978 the aldrich Museum of Contemporary art, ridgefield, Co USa

1977 robert friedus gallery, new York nY USa

oia, new York nY USa

1976 fine art gallery, new York nY USa

1975 “Young talent festival” “75”Union Carbide, new York nY USa

1974 “Young talent festival” Pace editions, new York nY USa

“59th annual Juried exhibition” hudson river Museum, Yonkers nY

1973 Springfield art association, Springfield Co USa

Works on Paper, triangle Church, new York nY USa

“Young artists 73” Union carbide, new York nY USa

new York Contemporary graphic exhibition, taiwan Museum, taipei

1972 Palace of fine arts, Mexico df Mexico

albright-Knox gallery, Buffalo nY USa

9th annual print exhibition” Silvermine guild, new Canaan Co USa

1971 Martha Jackson gallery, new York nY USa

Cornell University, ithaca nY USa

Catalogues:

1985 renold Kerr gallery, new York, nY USa text by david Shaff

1989 galerie Jade, Colmar france. the primary paintings of haessle by

frederick ted Castle. introduction by Jean-Yves Bainier

1994 Chateau du grand Jardin, Joinville france. in memory of the body

text by david Shapiro. interview by Marc vaudey. in french/english .

1994 Chateau du grand Jardin, Joinville france. edition of 200 exemplary

1995 Centre europeen d’action artistiques Contemp., Strasbourg , france

text by gilbert Lascault. interview by Jean-Yves Bainier

hard cover. in french and english.

1995 haeSSLe 30 ans de peinture. Monography 145 pages with 70 pages

full color reproductions. editions aU MeMe titre Paris france.

text by david Shaff, david Shapiro, Jean-Yves Bainier. interview by

Catherine Ulmer. in french and english.

2008 haessle, Selected works, M magazine, 15 pages all colors reproductions

Jean-Marie Haessle "In The Corner Of My Eye"

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