Three Titans of Modern Art Converge at Art Basel Paris

Within the hallowed galleries of Art Basel Paris, Thaddaeus Ropac has orchestrated a sublime gathering of three monumental figures whose contributions have fundamentally shaped the trajectory of twentieth century art. This convergence speaks to a shared philosophical pursuit: the distillation of visual experience into its most profound and elemental forms.

Georg Baselitz’s ‘Per mano an der Hand’ emerges as a work of extraordinary tactile dynamism, belonging to his profound ‘Darkness Goldness’ cycle. Through an unorthodox methodology that privileges chance and physical intervention, the artist layered unstretched canvas upon his initial composition, transferring the image with forceful sweeps of a broom. The resulting surface radiates with a luminous complexity: gold leaf bathes the depicted hands in an otherworldly radiance, whilst flickering passages of quasi organic patterning and petrol like iridescence dissolve the boundary between figuration and abstraction. Baselitz himself articulated the spiritual ambition underlying this approach: the desire to conjure ‘an apparition, something that appears out of the depth.’ The gold becomes not mere ornament but rather a philosophical enquiry into pictorial space itself.

A Dialogue Across Forms

Hans Josephsohn’s 1952 sculpture represents a defining moment in the artist’s sculptural vocabulary. Cast during an era dominated by avant garde abstraction, Josephsohn maintained an steadfast commitment to figuration, yet one stripped to its most essential geometric volumes. The solitary standing figure is rendered with almost archaic severity: facial features dissolve into a single relief nose, whilst the work’s striking verticality evokes both ancient Egyptian funerary tradition and the attenuated forms of his Swiss contemporary. This purist approach transforms the human figure into something simultaneously primitive and profoundly modern.

Lucio Fontana’s ‘Concetto spaziale’ from his celebrated ‘Pietre’ series completes this triptych of innovation. Here, fragments of glass paste adhere to the picture plane, transforming the canvas into an object of material richness and spatial complexity. Fontana’s philosophy of Spatialism, his quest for ‘the pure universal, suspended image,’ resonates deeply with Baselitz’s spiritual ambitions, revealing how these artists, though distinct in their methodologies, pursued parallel investigations into the very essence of artistic expression.

This exhibition at Art Basel Paris remains open until 25 October 2026, offering a rare opportunity to contemplate how these three masters transformed the materiality of art into gateways toward transcendence.

Imagery courtesy of Thaddaeus Ropac (@thaddaeusropac).