Exhibition guide

The exhibition presents almost thirty years of creation of painter and sculptor Olle Bærtling (1911-1981), 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 renew geometric abstract art and question its relevance today.

Visit details

  • Dates: From Friday 20 February 2026 to Sunday 19 July 2026: Thursday from 12:00 to 21:00 Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday from 12:00 to 19:00
  • Venue: Institut Suédois, 11 rue Payenne, Paris
  • Price: free
  • Audience: All audiences
  • Source: Event page

About the exhibition

"The art? For me, always: abstract movement. Everything's moving, everything's moving. Nothing fixed, still in the universe. But while the cosmic movement is physical order, the abstract movement is in tune with human thought. Thus begins the Prologue to a manifesto of the open form (1970), a founding text written by Olle Bærtling, a bank employee who became an artist at the age of 23.

Since the 1950s, he theorized the concept of "open form", a system of angles refusing any background and any closed geometric motif. The forms sway out of frame, beyond the canvas, towards infinity. This painting of space, nourished by his stays in Paris and his exchanges with the group Espace (André Bloc, Nicolas Schöffer, Victor Vasarely...) and Auguste Herbin, inscribed Bærtling in a radical modernity.

Beyond this new use of geometry, he turns out to be bold colorist: colour, for him, is a perceptive agent that activates the retina and energizes thought. His monumental compositions, through the competition of vibrating hues and ever-finished triangles, affirm an abstraction in motion, open, de-inclusive, perpetually tending towards an outfield.

In a singular scenography, the exhibition explores the world ramifications of geometric abstraction and its relevance today. She looks at the iconic Bærtling with the abstract art of seven contemporary artists who in turn unfold the notion of open form in completely new ways.

In watermark, a question emerges: where is the utopia that permeated Bærtling's work? The ideal of a universal language which, by its abstract form, would address and be understood by all is still relevant? The exhibition invites us to think abstraction not as a frozen heritage, but as a search always alive. Revealing abstractions on the margins, she dares to decentralize, as Bærtling already did, in order to question what, in abstract art, continues to move us.

"Open forms" is part of a series of exhibitions at the Swedish Institute that highlights pioneer artists in their time, in dialogue with contemporary creators.

Commissioners: Marion Alluchon and Marjolaine Lévy

Acknowledgements at the Olle Bærtling Foundation, Hallands Konstmuseum, the Swedish Embassy in France, Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, Swedish Art Council and all private lenders. Special thanks to the friends and benefactors of the Swedish Institute for their generous support.

With the support of Houdini Sportswear.

Practical informationFree entry without reservation