In the run-up to the 80th anniversary of Galerie Dina Vierny, to be celebrated in January 2027, this exhibition pays tribute to Jean Fournier, a leading gallerist in the Parisian abstract art scene from 1964 to 2006, whose gallery permanently closed its doors in 2024. Nothing foreshadowed that this child of a family of butchers on Rue Bonaparte would become one of the most influential figures in the art world of the second half of the 20th century: a bookseller since 1945, he opened a bookstore-gallery on Avenue Kléber in 1954, where, the following year, he had his fateful encounter with Simon Hantaï.

For more than forty years, Fournier championed a demanding form of painting in which color and gesture became languages in their own right. He accompanied Hantaï on one of the most radical artistic ventures of his time, introduced and championed Sam Francis, Joan Mitchell, and Jean Paul Riopelle in Paris, and supported Judit Reigl, Jean Degottex, and Shirley Jaffe with the same conviction. From one side of the Atlantic to the other, his discerning eye brought together celebrated trajectories in art history and contributed profoundly to renewing the face of postwar painting.

Bringing together many of his artists around Blue Figure (1960), Fournier’s favorite painting, the exhibition captures the strength and coherence of a vision that spanned half a century of painting. It will be held in conjunction with the exhibition dedicated to Stéphane Bordarier at the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris (July 21, 2026, to January 4, 2027.)

Artists : JAMES BISHOP, STÉPHANE BORDARIER, JEAN DEGOTTEX, SAM FRANCIS, SIMON HANTAÏ, SHIRLEY JAFFE, JOAN MITCHELL, JUDIT REIGL, JEAN-PAUL RIOPELLE, CLAUDE VIALLAT