February 20–July 19, 2026
Paris 75003
France
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 12–7pm
Thursday 12–9pm
Olle Bærtling with Cécile Bart, Rana Begum, Ulla von Brandenburg, Jacob Dahlgren, Bernd Ribbeck, Bella Rune and Brooklin A. Soumahoro
The exhibition presents nearly thirty years of work by painter and sculptor Olle Bærtling (1911–81), an iconic figure of abstraction, in dialogue with the works of seven international artists: Cécile Bart, Rana Begum, Ulla von Brandenburg, Jacob Dahlgren, Bernd Ribbeck, Bella Rune and Brooklin A. Soumahoro. Through very different approaches and mediums, they are revitalising geometric abstract art and exploring its relevance today.
“Art for me has always been about abstract motion. […] Everything is motion, everything moves. There is no fixed point in the universe. But whereas such motion is physical, abstract motion is in tune with human thought.” These are the opening words of Prologue to a Manifesto of Open Form (1970), a seminal text written by Olle Bærtling, a banker who became an artist at the age of twenty-three.
In the 1950s, he began to develop the concept of ‘open form’, a system of angles rejecting any background or closed geometric pattern. The forms extend out of the frame, beyond the canvas, towards infinity. This spatial painting, inspired by his trips to Paris and his interactions with the Groupe Espace (André Bloc, Nicolas Schöffer, Victor Vasarely and others) and Auguste Herbin, mark Bærtling as a radical modernist.
In addition to using geometry in a new way, he proved to be a bold colourist: for him, colour was a perceptual agent that activates the retina and stimulates thought. Through their interplay of vibrant hues and never-ending triangles, his monumental compositions reveal an abstraction that is in motion, open, decentred and perpetually reaching beyond the frame.
This uniquely designed exhibition explores the global ramifications of geometric abstraction and its relevance today. It compares the iconic Bærtling with the abstract art of seven contemporary artists, who are exploring the concept of open form in their own, entirely new ways.
Implicitly, a question arises: what has become of the utopia that permeated Bærtling’s work? Is the ideal of a universal language that, through its abstract form, can speak to and be understood by all still topical? The exhibition invites us to view abstraction not as a static legacy, but as an ever-evolving exploration. Revealing abstractions on the margins, it dares to shift the focus, as Bærtling did, to explore what it is that continues to move us in abstract art.
Formes ouvertes is part of a series of exhibitions at the Institut suédois highlighting artists who were pioneers in their time, in dialogue with contemporary creators.
Curators: Marion Alluchon and Marjolaine Lévy
Related events
As always at the Institut suédois, the exhibition serves as the catalyst for a wide-ranging multidisciplinary programme of events. Like a guiding thread, the abstract art Olle Bærtling theorised and developed from the 1950s meets contemporary expressions in a series of encounters with visual artists and musicians.
March 5: Exhibition walkthrough with artist Jacob Dahlgren and art historian Håkan Nilsson, from the Olle Bærtling Foundation / March 8: Collective performance: Manifestation 08.03.2026 with artist Jacob Dahlgren / March 19: À l’œuvre: Musical intervention by trumpetist Håkan Hardenberger / April 9: Conversation: Abstractions en marge with artists Nassim Azarzar, Ulla von Brandenburg, Seulgi Lee and Bella Rune. Moderated by Marjolaine Lévy, curator of the exhibition / May 21: À l’œuvre: Musical performance by musician Lisa Nordström / June 18: Exhibition walkthrough with Marion Alluchon and Marjolaine Lévy, curators of the exhibition
