Self-taught French artist Francois Morellet was a man ahead of his time. Because he was quietly working away in his hometown, his abstract paintings, prints, sculptures and installations didn't garner much attention until later in his life. But once they did, Morellet's use of geometry, neon lighting and kinetic potential was on trend with the day’s contemporary art sensibilities and his work would be associated with Conceptualism as well as Op art, which saw artists producing intense visual experiences by drawing on and evolving methods developed by movements such as Abstract Expressionism and Impressionism.
Morellet was born in Cholet, France, which he called home for his entire life. While he left briefly to study literature in Paris, he returned to head his family's toy factory. Running a successful business gave Morellet the time and opportunity to focus on his art.
He began creating figurative paintings in the 1940s but pivoted to abstraction in the 1950s. His inspiration included the work of architect and designer Max Bill, which he encountered on a trip to Brazil, and the decorative Islamic art he saw in Alhambra, Spain.
In the early 1960s, Morellet became a founding member of the collaborative artists collective Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel (GRAV). The experimental group created dynamic art that required the viewer's active engagement. In 1964, GRAV exhibited at Documenta in Kassel, Germany, where Morellet went on to appear twice as a solo artist.
Morellet had his first showing to American audiences in 1965 at the Museum of Modern Art, in New York, followed by an exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 1970. He exhibited around the world for the rest of his career, always returning to Cholet.
In 1991, as part of a collection for Tecno curated by Valeria Borsani in part to pay tribute to her father, celebrated iconic designer and Tecno founder Osvaldo Borsani, Morellet collaborated with his eldest son, Frédéric, to create the brand’s Détabilisation tables. These sculptural minimalist furnishings are made of glass, painted cast aluminum and satin-finished stainless steel and look as though they’re going to collapse at any moment.
A prolific artist throughout his life, Morellet celebrated his 90th birthday on April 30, 2016, by launching a string of shows in London and Brazil. While planning those exhibitions, he told Wallpaper magazine: "I often said that in the past, I considered that my work was widely underestimated and that today it is probably overestimated."
Morellet passed away in May of that year, doing what he loved. Today, his work is held in the collections at the Centre Pompidou, the Museum of Modern Art, the Seoul Museum of Art, the Kunsthaus Zurich and many more prestigious institutions.
On 1stDibs, find Francois Morellet prints, paintings, mixed media and more.
François Morellet, Untitled - 1972, Signed Print, Geometric Abstraction, Op Art
By Francois Morellet
Located in Hamburg, DE
François Morellet (French, 1926-2016) Untitled (from 6. Kölner Kunstmarkt 72), 1972 Medium: Screenprint on paper Edition of 180: Hand-signed Dimensions: 45 x 65 cm Condition: Excellent
Screen
$325
H 24 in W 24 in D 1.5 in
Outgoing Tide, Signed Contemporary Neutral Minimalist Abstract Digital Painting
Located in Boston, MA
Outgoing Tide, Signed Contemporary Neutral Abstract Digital Painting 24" x 24" x 1.5" (HxWxD) Archival Print on Canvas Hand-signed by the artist in verso. This square format digital...
Canvas, Digital, Archival Pigment
$675
H 30 in W 40 in
Exotischer Klang Exotic Sound, 1930 Oversize Archival Pigment print
By (after) Paul Klee
Located in London, GB
Exotischer Klang (Exotic Sound), 1930 (after) Paul Klee (Original work) is Pen and ink, pencil, and watercolour on paper, mounted on card, 47 × 61.3/62.3cm. Dusseldorf, North Rhine-...
Archival Pigment
$750
H 10 in W 8 in
No. 4: Small Abstract Expressionist Monotype in Navy Blue, Soft Yellow & Green
By Jenny Nelson
Located in Hudson, NY
Small abstract expressionist style monotype in navy blue, green, light violet, and soft yellow 'Untitled 4' by Jenny Nelson Monotype, mad...
Oil, Archival Paper, Monoprint
$3,825
H 8.4 in W 11 in
DH in Hollywood (David Hockney) Howard Hodgkin colorful abstract painting framed
By Howard Hodgkin
Located in New York, NY
Howard Hodgkin based this print on a trip he took to visit his good friend and fellow Petersburg Press collaborator David Hockney in Los Angeles. The mid-eighties saw new levels of abstraction in Hodgkin’s work, building exuberantly off the ambiguous spaces of his earlier work. The artist used six colors of paint, producing a unique depth and texture to each print in this edition. Howard Hodgkin was introduced to the etching technique used in DH in Hollywood at Petersburg Press, where he was a long-time collaborator. Soft-ground etching allowed him to work fluidly and spontaneously, giving his prints the characteristic black brushstrokes seen in this print. Paper 8.4 x 11 in. / 21.3 × 27.9 cm Soft-ground etching (from one plate) with hand coloring in watercolor (orange-red, brown, and green) and oil pastel (red and...
Oil Pastel, Watercolor, Etching
$950
H 34 in W 27 in
Abstract Expressionist American Modernist Oil Monotype Monoprint Painting
By Larry Brown
Located in Surfside, FL
Larry Brown Long-time established New York painter as well as faculty member the The Cooper Union, Brown works in oil on canvas and tempera paints on paper. He deals with themes of science and universality. EDUCATION: 1970 M.F.A. in Painting, University of Arizona 1967 BA in Painting, Washington State University SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS: Mixed Company: Women Choose Men, AIR Gallery, New York, NY Easy Breezy, Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York, NY From Stone and Plate: Contemporary Prints from Tamarind Institute, California State University Change of View Tamarind Institute Gallery, Albuquerque, NM Animal As Muse, The Norton Museum of Art, W. Palm Beach, FL Painting--Larry Brown, Joseph Haske, David Schoffman, Helander Gallery, New York, NY Paper Houses, David Beitzel Gallery, New York, NY Curators Choice, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY Current Trends in Abstraction-- Larry Brown, Bill Drew...
Monoprint, Monotype
$400Sale Price|27% Off
H 31 in W 23.5 in D 2 in
Original Print Poster by Nicolas de Stael, Oeuvre Gravé, 1979
By Nicolas de Stael (after)
Located in Pasadena, CA
Nicolas DE STAEL, Oeuvre gravé, Bibliotheque Nationale Exhibition, 1979 Original print poster, size is framed Excellent condition
Offset, Screen
$950
H 34 in W 27 in
Abstract Expressionist American Modernist Oil Monotype Monoprint Painting
By Larry Brown
Located in Surfside, FL
Larry Brown Long-time established New York painter as well as faculty member the The Cooper Union, Brown works in oil on canvas and tempera paints on paper. He deals with themes of science and universality. EDUCATION: 1970 M.F.A. in Painting, University of Arizona 1967 BA in Painting, Washington State University SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS: Mixed Company: Women Choose Men, AIR Gallery, New York, NY Easy Breezy, Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York, NY From Stone and Plate: Contemporary Prints from Tamarind Institute, California State University Change of View Tamarind Institute Gallery, Albuquerque, NM Animal As Muse, The Norton Museum of Art, W. Palm Beach, FL Painting--Larry Brown, Joseph Haske, David Schoffman, Helander Gallery, New York, NY Paper Houses, David Beitzel Gallery, New York, NY Curators Choice, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY Current Trends in Abstraction-- Larry Brown, Bill Drew...
Monoprint, Monotype
$350
H 32 in W 24 in D 1.5 in
Under the Illusion, Signed Contemporary Blue Abstract Digital Painting Print
Located in Boston, MA
Under the Illusion, Original Signed Contemporary Blue Abstract Digital Painting 32" x 24" x 1.5" (HxWxD) Archival Print on Canvas Hand-signed by the artist in verso. This abstract digital painting by artist Denise Dundon...
Canvas, Digital, Archival Pigment
$650
H 15 in W 11 in
Abstract Expressionist Modernist Coral Grey Monoprint Monotype Painting Print
By Pierre Obando
Located in Surfside, FL
Pierre Andre Obando creates process oriented abstract paintings. He was born in Belize City, Belize and grew up in the Caribbean, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Miami, Fl and Jackson, MS. ...
Monoprint, Monotype
$325
H 24 in W 24 in D 1.5 in
At First Light, Signed Contemporary Abstract Digital Painting Print on Canvas
Located in Boston, MA
At First Light, Signed Contemporary Blue Abstract Digital Painting 24" x 24" x 1.5" (HxWxD) Archival Print on Canvas Hand-signed by the artist in verso. This square format digital p...
Canvas, Digital, Archival Pigment
$4,500
H 30.25 in W 44 in
Large Abstract Expressionist Color Monotype Oil Painting Tom Lieber Mixed Media
By Tom Lieber
Located in Surfside, FL
Tom Alan Lieber, (American, born 1949), Oil and mixed media on paper, 30.25 x 44 inches, Hand signed and dated lower right Provenance: Garner Tullis Workshop, N.Y. A bold and be...
Mixed Media, Oil, Monotype
$1,800
H 33.5 in W 28 in
1985 Abstract Geometric Monoprint Painting Chine Colle Collage Robert Kelly
By Robert Kelly
Located in Surfside, FL
Robert Kelly (American, 1956-) Abstract Monoprint 1985 Pencil titled Donja XI and dated 1985 lower left Hand signed lower right Provenance: from the collection of a prominent US corporation. Dimensions: Sheet: 33.5" X 28" Image: 26" X 22" Robert Kelly (born 1956) is an American artist. He is based in New York City. Kelly was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and studied at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (B.A. 1978). His paintings have been acquired by public and private collections in Europe and the United States, including The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; The Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI; Smith College Art Museum, Northampton MA; Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutger’s University, NJ; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery; The Fogg Museum, Cambridge, MA; The Margulies Collection, Miami, FL; and the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX. Kelly has traveled throughout the United States, Europe, North Africa, the Near East, and Nepal. His work often incorporates unusual materials from his journeys, among them vintage posters and printed antique paper, obscured and layered in saturated pigments on a canvas faintly scored with irregular grids. Kelly’s paintings have been likened to palimpsests and his method described as one of building “meticulously on inhabited ground, layering materials, documents, and signs, covering them, wiping out their beauty, nearly, but allowing something of the labor and their languages to persist.” Kelly worked as a commercial photographer for Polaroid in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and completed residencies at The MacDowell Colony and The Karolyi Foundation, Vence, France, before devoting himself entirely to painting in 1982. His work has been the subject of more than forty-five solo shows at venues in North America and Europe, including Spazio Bianco/AR Contemporary Art, Milan, Italy; Leslie Feely Fine Art, New York; and The John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, California. He has participated in more than one hundred group shows in the United States and abroad. including the Projects Inaugural Exhibition at Bentley Gallery Featuring works by Jim Dine...
Monoprint, Monotype