André Marfaing "Ink Wash Paintings, 1960s - 1980s"
Ceysson & Bénétière Tokyo
Starts 1/22
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Artists
André Marfaing
Ceysson & Bénétière Tokyo is pleased to present an exhibition of previously unseen works by André Marfaing, bringing together a selection of ink washes on paper spanning three decades of his career, from the 1950s to the 1980s. Conceived in close collaboration with the artist’s studio, this exhibition assembles works that have never been shown before, offering a unique opportunity to trace the evolution of his practice over thirty years of creation.
This exhibition resonates in a particular way in Japan, where the sensibility for ink painting and the tradition of sumi-e naturally meet Marfaing’s aesthetic. The dialogue between these ink washes and Japanese pictorial thought unfolds through the use of black ink, the importance of emptiness, and the ability of the gesture to convey a state of mind. Marfaing’s rigorous abstraction carries a universal reach, inviting viewers to encounter the silent strength of his compositions beyond language.
Born in Toulouse in 1925, Marfaing moved to Paris at the age of twenty-four. There, he discovered the explorations of the Second School of Paris and forged friendships with Alfred Manessier in 1951 and Pierre Soulages in 1952. He embraced abstraction that same year and quickly developed a personal vocabulary that allowed him to express ideas freed from figurative representation. To the asceticism of his palette he added the practice of never titling his works, leaving viewers complete freedom of interpretation. Only the date, format, and technique serve as titles.
Black—understood as the sum of all colours—soon asserted itself as the privileged tool of his pursuit of the absolute. White, its opposite, became an active force structuring space and opening points of light. Out of this restraint emerged works marked by stark contrasts, where luminous breakthroughs cut across dark masses. The ink washes gathered here appear driven precisely by this struggle between shadow and light, where emptiness and fullness, slowness and the impulse of the gesture confront one another, carrying the artist’s ineffable state of mind. The expressiveness of his painting, despite its economy of means and strict limitation of palette, finds a particular echo in Japanese sensibility. Like the sumi-e painter who varies the dilution of ink, the angle of the brush, the pressure and speed of the stroke, Marfaing explores with similar acuity the subtle relationship between gesture and material, allowing each variation to produce its own emotional charge.
Despite his continual renewal, the obsessive presence of light remains the true subject of his work. Vehement and tumultuous in the 1960s, Marfaing’s painting grew more pared down from the 1970s onward, as the artist sought to “express a thing completely with as few words as possible.” In the 1980s, his final works reached a degree of refinement that granted light an almost meditative role, like a fragile presence suspended between two obscurities.
These ink washes thus offer privileged access to an intimate dimension of his practice, revealing a relationship to painting as a necessity—as the unveiling of an inner landscape where light remains the ultimate guide.
This exhibition resonates in a particular way in Japan, where the sensibility for ink painting and the tradition of sumi-e naturally meet Marfaing’s aesthetic. The dialogue between these ink washes and Japanese pictorial thought unfolds through the use of black ink, the importance of emptiness, and the ability of the gesture to convey a state of mind. Marfaing’s rigorous abstraction carries a universal reach, inviting viewers to encounter the silent strength of his compositions beyond language.
Born in Toulouse in 1925, Marfaing moved to Paris at the age of twenty-four. There, he discovered the explorations of the Second School of Paris and forged friendships with Alfred Manessier in 1951 and Pierre Soulages in 1952. He embraced abstraction that same year and quickly developed a personal vocabulary that allowed him to express ideas freed from figurative representation. To the asceticism of his palette he added the practice of never titling his works, leaving viewers complete freedom of interpretation. Only the date, format, and technique serve as titles.
Black—understood as the sum of all colours—soon asserted itself as the privileged tool of his pursuit of the absolute. White, its opposite, became an active force structuring space and opening points of light. Out of this restraint emerged works marked by stark contrasts, where luminous breakthroughs cut across dark masses. The ink washes gathered here appear driven precisely by this struggle between shadow and light, where emptiness and fullness, slowness and the impulse of the gesture confront one another, carrying the artist’s ineffable state of mind. The expressiveness of his painting, despite its economy of means and strict limitation of palette, finds a particular echo in Japanese sensibility. Like the sumi-e painter who varies the dilution of ink, the angle of the brush, the pressure and speed of the stroke, Marfaing explores with similar acuity the subtle relationship between gesture and material, allowing each variation to produce its own emotional charge.
Despite his continual renewal, the obsessive presence of light remains the true subject of his work. Vehement and tumultuous in the 1960s, Marfaing’s painting grew more pared down from the 1970s onward, as the artist sought to “express a thing completely with as few words as possible.” In the 1980s, his final works reached a degree of refinement that granted light an almost meditative role, like a fragile presence suspended between two obscurities.
These ink washes thus offer privileged access to an intimate dimension of his practice, revealing a relationship to painting as a necessity—as the unveiling of an inner landscape where light remains the ultimate guide.
Schedule | Jan 22 (Thu) 2026-Mar 7 (Sat) 2026 Opening Hours Information
Opening Reception Jan 22 (Thu) 2026 17:00 - 19:00 | ||||
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://www.ceyssonbenetiere.com/en/exhibitions/1362/andre-marfaing | ||||
| Venue | Ceysson & Bénétière Tokyo https://www.ceyssonbenetiere.com/en/home/ | ||||
| Location | 8F Cura Ginza, 5-12-6 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061 | ||||
| Access | 1 minute walk from exit A1 at Higashi-ginza Station on the Toei Asakusa or Hibiya line. 1 minute walk from exit A1 at Ginza Station on the Marunouchi, Hibiya and Ginza lines. 12 minute walk from the Ginza exit of JR Yurakucho Station. | ||||
| Phone | 03-6260-6228 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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