Nancy Graves Rediscovered at Ceysson & Bénétière in Paris

Ceysson & Bénétière in Paris presents a second solo exhibition of Nancy Graves (1939–1995), featuring drawings and paintings from the 1980s. The American artist, celebrated in the 1970s, experimented across painting, sculpture, prints, film, and stage design. She studied literature at Vassar College before earning a master's degree from Yale University's art and architecture department. A 1964 fellowship took her to Paris and Morocco, where she made her first films. Back in New York, she was briefly married to minimalist sculptor Richard Serra (1964–1970) and moved to SoHo in 1966. In 1969, at age 29, she became the youngest artist to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Her early naturalist works, like life-size camels (1967–1969), blurred art and natural history. In the 1970s, fascinated by satellite imagery from the space race, she collaborated with NASA researchers to create paintings and sculptures. Later, she built a personal art history by collaging images from magazines and books, as in 'In Memory of My Feelings' (1988), which juxtaposes a Greek marble, a Japanese print, and ancient Egyptian frescoes. Graves died of cancer at 55 at the peak of her career. Now represented by Perrotin and Ceysson & Bénétière, her work is being rediscovered on both sides of the Atlantic.