Gilles Gorriti was a distinctive voice in modern painting, emerging from a rich artistic heritage. The son of the celebrated painter Paul Aïzpiri, Gilles developed an early connection to the arts and, at just seventeen, held his first solo exhibition at Galerie Morval, marking the beginning of his presence in the art world. He later joined the esteemed Salon d’Automne, thus becoming part of what many consider to be the last generation of the modernist School of Paris.

This exhibition features Gorriti’s still lifes and interior scenes in counterpoint to his luminous landscapes and city scenes. The former reveal an intimate and contemplative dimension of his work, while the latter allowed Gorriti to expand his horizons and play with color and light as signifiers of space and atmosphere. In Gorriti’s interiors, floral arrangements, Japanese fans, and studio compositions are rendered with luminous color, balancing a quiet exploratory process with a raw and powerful finish. These works showcase Gorriti’s ability to transform everyday subjects into meditations, as Gorriti regarded each element as a single painting to be fitted with the other “paintings” in pursuit of the overall balance and beauty of the composition. These works of art are thus an invitation to delve into a deeper view that transcends the subject. Upon spending time with one of these paintings, one inevitably realizes that, to Gorriti, representing the world around him was merely an excuse; these are invitations to join him and revel in the endless poetry of abstraction.

In contrast, his views of Paris, New York, and Venice depict animated boulevards, café terraces, and atmospheric corners from of each city. In these brilliant paintings, Gorriti captured the memory, the thought, of a place with all its rhythm, whether it be a quiet and contemplative view of Venice or a bustling and vibrant street scene in New York. Gorriti gifts the viewer a powerful duality: on one hand, the experience of the place itself; on the other, an aesthetic creation that sings its beauty in a never-ending melody of color.

We invite you to visit Findlay Galleries in Palm Beach to experience our collection of works by Gorriti, the quintessential modernist, now on view.

Contact your gallery to enquire about a work of art, for more information on the exhibition, or to schedule an appointment.