Hans Hartung

Hans Hartung studied philosophy and art history at Leipzig University and received formal artistic training at the academies of Dresden and Munich. After traveling through Italy and Spain, he settled permanently in Paris in 1935. Hartung played a key role in postwar European abstraction, emerging as a pioneer of Art Informel and a major figure of the lyrical abstraction movement.

Hartung is best known for his gestural abstract paintings, marked by dynamic brushstrokes, scratches, and graphic lines that appear both spontaneous and deliberate. His early works employed limited color palettes and expressive linework, while later paintings introduced vibrant acrylics and experimental techniques like spraying, scratching, and using custom-made tools. These methods allowed him to emphasize energy, rhythm, and emotion while maintaining formal control. Hartung’s style bridges the European tachisme movement and abstract expressionism, making him a key figure in the global development of gestural abstraction.

Hartung represented France at the Venice Biennale. His work was also featured in several editions of Documenta. A major retrospective of his career was held at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris in 2019, the first of its kind in Paris in over five decades. Other notable exhibitions have taken place at Kunstmuseum Bonn, Museum Ludwig (Cologne), and the Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Siegen. His legacy is preserved and promoted by the Hartung-Bergman Foundation in Antibes.