JAMES HOWELL • A QUIET MEASURE OF LIGHT

OPENING: THURSDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2026 (6PM-9PM)
EXHIBITION FROM 20 AUGUST TO 3 OCTOBER 2026

We are thrilled to present A Quiet Measure of Light, the first solo exhibition in France devoted to the work of American artist James Howell (1935–2014), in collaboration with the James Howell Foundation, New York.

Spanning more than five decades, James Howell’s practice was driven by a lifelong investigation into the fundamental elements of painting: colour, light, space and perception. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Howell initially studied English literature and architecture at Stanford University before dedicating himself fully to art in the early 1960s. Encouraged by the painter Fairfield Porter to explore acrylic paint, he gradually moved towards abstraction, developing a highly personal language grounded in precision, restraint and contemplation.

Throughout his career, Howell sought to understand the infinite possibilities contained within the most subtle variations of tone. His work is particularly renowned for his exploration of grey, not as an absence of colour, but as a universe of shifting nuances where light, atmosphere and perception constantly transform the surface of the painting. His later works emerged from an extraordinary process combining mathematical structures, carefully measured proportions and an intuitive sensitivity to the ephemeral qualities of light.

In 1996, Howell began his seminal Series 10, a body of work that would occupy the final decades of his life. Built upon a precise set of parameters and calculated progressions, these paintings gradually move from light to dark, creating fields of colour that appear almost weightless. Behind their apparent simplicity lies a profound meditation on infinity, spirituality and the limits of human perception.

The environments in which Howell lived and worked deeply informed his artistic vision. From his retreat on San Juan Island in Washington State, surrounded by endlessly changing skies and waters, to his later studio in Montauk, New York, where fog, sea and shifting daylight became essential sources of inspiration, nature provided a continuous dialogue between the visible and the invisible.

A Quiet Measure of Light brings together a selection of paintings from the celebrated Series 10, alongside works on paper, drawings and etchings, offering a rare overview of Howell’s disciplined yet deeply poetic approach. Through these works, the exhibition invites viewers to experience painting as a place of stillness, a space where light becomes matter, time becomes visible, and perception itself becomes the subject.

Coinciding with the exhibition, we will also host a special screening of the documentary film “Thoughts of Infinity” dedicated to James Howell, offering further insight into the artist’s life, studio practice and extraordinary commitment to his work.