Pierre Soulages: Paintings on Paper at Lévy Gorvy Dayan Explores Paper's Role

Lévy Gorvy Dayan in New York presents Pierre Soulages: Paintings on Paper, on view from September 17th to October 24th, 2026. The exhibition brings together 22 works created between 1963 and 2004, using ink, gouache, and walnut stain on paper. Seventeen of these works are mounted, often giving them the appearance of stretched canvases. The show's title, Paintings on Paper, raises questions about the relationship between painting and its paper support, a distinction that critic Michel Ragon challenged in 1962 when he noted the paradox that a drawing could become a painting once adhered to canvas. The works demonstrate paper's active role during creation—affecting pigment absorption, drying speed, and edge quality—yet after completion, paper is often treated as a passive surface. The exhibition argues that these are not merely paintings on paper but paintings made through paper, and it highlights how mounting can subordinate paper's material qualities like thinness and wrinkles. By spanning four decades, the show reveals paper as a sustained material path rather than a preliminary stage for canvas works.