Claude Rutault's Temporal Paintings at Galerie Perrotin

Claude Rutault's exhibition "Actualités de la peinture" at Galerie Perrotin in Paris (12 September – 9 November 2013) explores temporality through his signature method: a canvas painted the same color as the wall it hangs on. Since 1973, Rutault has produced 580 "définitions/méthodes" that delegate execution to the owner, making each work perpetually updated. In 1995, he decided to repaint all his pre-1973 works. The exhibition centers on three reproductions of historical paintings: Vermeer's "The Art of Painting", Poussin's "The Four Seasons", and Watteau's "The Shop Sign of Gersaint". These trace painting's journey from studio to display. Around them, Rutault arranges réactualisations of his definitions/methods. The show references Poussin's 1639 letter to Fréart de Chantelou: "Read the history and the picture." A caption under the Watteau engraving reads "des maistres de son art imitent la manière", highlighting genealogy. The exhibition questions what is current: the réactualisations, the old masters, or the entire corpus? Rutault's texts precede the painting, creating a diegetic painting that tells rather than shows. The show was reviewed by Alexandre Mare.